NBAA honored Leo Knaapen, Bombardier’s chief of industry affairs, with the association’s Silk Scarf Award, recognizing his decades of leadership and commitment to safety, sustainability, international operations, and other industry priorities. NBAA presents Silk Scarf Awards to individuals for special contributions to the business aviation community during their careers. Knaapen is retiring from Bombardier this week after a nearly 37-year aerospace career.
“For more than three decades, Leo has been a constant, tireless, and effective champion for business aviation throughout the world,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “As a result, we are a better, stronger, safer, more sustainable, and more cohesive industry.”
Knaapen’s aerospace career began in 1985 with Pratt & Whitney Canada and he moved over to Bombardier in 1989. There, he served as spokesman for the company's Canadair division and then became responsible for media relations for Bombardier Business Aircraft.
In 2007, he stepped into a newly created industry affairs position, representing the company throughout the global aviation community. In this role, he helped establish the Business Aviation Coalition for Sustainability, which has made a commitment for the industry to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. He further has supported business aviation initiatives through the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) and in coordination with the International Civil Aviation Organization. He is a member of the NBAA Advisory Council and the IBAC Governing Council.
On the safety front, he has served as an advisory council member and has long been a supporter of the Bombardier Safety Standdown.
He also has served as the chair of the Quebec chapter of the Canadian Business Aviation Association and played a role in the development of the safety management systems involving design and manufacturing for the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Annex 19.
“Leo has always put the good of the industry first and demanded the same from everyone else,” Bolen added. “He has always found a way to bring out our best.”
