Wings of Business National Award - the essential to know from Mikhail Titov

Q.Mikhail ... how a TOP level professional in business aviation became a producer of Wings of Business National Award?

Professionalism - is not abstract, but quite specific thing. When there are no work results, the professionalism becomes invisible. That is why, having a break in the continuous operational activities, I decided to organize an event, which is intended to become the main event of the year in the Russian business aviation. For me it is a new experience, but we have a great team and I am sure, the project will be successful.

Q. Tell us please briefly once again the essence of the project of the national award in  business aviation in Russia.

The bottom line is simple and obvious. For about 25 years since the establishment of business aviation industry in Russia it has come a long way in a very short period of time. Today – there are a big fleet, airport infrastructure for business aviation, a lot of service providers, a professional association (RUBAA) and Jet Expo exhibition. Moscow is one of the leaders in Europe in number of operations of business jets. Now is the time when we can proudly announce our achievements and begin to record a chronicle of the Russian business aviation. So I suggested RUBAA to establish the Wings of Business National Award, and became the sponsor and producer of the project.

Q. And what nominations are presented for the award?

The list of nominations is covering almost all activities in business aviation. Some categories are for Russian companies only, but given the high level of integration in global business aviation industry, we could not ignore international companies that have made a significant contribution to the Russian industry. Therefore, a number of nominations are open for international participants, and we welcome international companies to participate in the following Award’s categories:

-  Foreign Business Aviation Airline

- Аircraft management

- Aircraft Manufacturer

- Maintenance Company – MRO

- Project of the Year in Business Aviation 

You can find the participation rules and application forms at our website  http://wingsaward.ru/en/

Q. After so many years in the industry is it so acute the issue of recognition of the work quality of the companies?

I believe that the market always clears the air itself. Customer-centric and innovative companies that are ready to reconsider business models in response to the market changes will grow and prosper. But of course, there is also a different experience. For example, huge umber of charter brokers founded by ex sales managers of big companies do not always meet the highest standards - but it is rather an exception to the rule. Today, hundreds of companies work in the Russian business aviation market and there are leaders both in quality and technology. It's time to award the best, to honor them and be proud of them!

Q. Will your idea become an annual mark of quality, kind of quality certificate?

Organizing this award for the first time, my team and I faced a number of problems from ideological to organizational. For example, due to the specifics of the business and its traditional "confidential code", not every company is ready to share sufficient information about its business performance. But in every case we have found a compromise, because our main task is to determine the true market leaders basing on both their business achievements and industry professionals’opinion.

The Awards and especially the Awards Ceremony, which will take place February 17, 2017 in Moscow, is quite expensive (the total budget is around 200,000 euros). We raised the bar to the highest level: fantastic entertainment program with Russian superstars, fine dining and so on.

This year, we (BIZAV SYSTEMS LLC) took the bulk of the costs on us, but we are also in negotiations with potential sponsors, because an event of this level and with such an audience - is unique to the market! For sponsors we have created valuable packages and we are open to discuss specific conditions and activities within the event.

I certainly hope that the Award will be held annually becoming one of the main events in the world of business aviation. Our website has an archive section, and it would be great to have a look at the archive of the Ceremony 2017 after many years and remember how it was =)

Q. As much as we have the honor to know details of the upcoming event makes us to consider it an "Oscar of business aviation." Is it appropriate to your idea?

Exactly the Oscar! I’m talking not about the statuette, but the meaning, philosophy, value and style of the event. This is the first Award for the highest achievements in business aviation in Russia!

Among the nominations, there are two that are not relevant to the present day. These are "The Person -Legend" and "The Company - Legend ". Applicants in these categories will be defined by RUBAA board members for outstanding service and contribution to the development of the Russian business aviation industry. Very soon, the profiles of those companies will appear on our site and it will be possible to vote for them.

Q. How active is the voting and the spirit of competition among the participants?

We started to receive applications from companies a bit later than we planned, plus our foreign participants are very slow! But voting for first participants has already begun, and in just a few days they have collected thousands of votes. Therefore, I urge companies to be active with their bids - we continue the registration of applicants, and the sooner the company’s profile will appear on our website, the more chances you will have to collect a decent number of votes!

The Award’s winners are defined by  an independent voting. Therefore, according to the rules (available on http://wingsaward.ru/en/) , our website has a number of limitations regarding the online voting. For example, you can vote in each category only once from a single device. Unfortunately, it happens that some participants sometimes use advanced methods to set number of votes, so our website is suffering due to that. But I am confident that we will overcome all difficulties, and the winners in each category will be chosen by fair means!

Q. A simple question - what would you wish for the award at this stage?

I would like to see a lot of participants, good traffic to website and a lot of votes for applicants. Many positive reviews and good luck, good luck and good luck again! I invite all industry professionals to attend our Award Ceremony - it will be a fantastic show not to be missed (tickets are available at our website). See you at the Wings of Business Award Ceremony in Moscow!