NBAA announces passing of Ed Bolen

Former GAMA chief had retired days earlier after leading business aviation group for 22 years.

Tributes have been paid by many in the industry following the death of former National Business Aviation Association president and CEO, Ed Bolen, one week after his retirement from the Washington DC-based organisation.

Bolen, who had been fighting cancer, had been on medical leave since shortly before the annual NBAA-BACE convention in Las Vegas. NBAA announced on 6 November he was retiring from the organisation.

Bolen had led NBAA since 2004. Before that, he ran the General Aviation Manufacturers Association for eight years and prior to that worked as an aide to former Kansas senator Nancy Kassebaum.

“We are filled with incredible sadness about Ed,” says senior vice-president communications Dan Hubbard, who has taken over as acting CEO while NBAA looks for a replacement.

“Ed was not just our colleague – he was a friend and a mentor to many of us. He accomplished so much, and did so with grace and humility,” he adds.

Among dozens of tributes on LinkedIn, Bob Stangarone, CEO of the non-profit Corporate Angel Network, describes Bolen as “the most influential, powerful force in the arc of business aviation, and the quintessential gentleman”.

Royal Aeronautical Society chief executive Dave Edwards says Bolen was “a good man who achieved so much for the business aviation industry”.

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