Australia and New Zealand Aviation Media Awards 2012 Presented by the National Aviation Press Club and Australian Aviation

Further, the award is presented to the journalist with a demonstrated ability to break news stories, convey the complex issues of the industry to a broad audience, and represent the highest standards of Australian and New Zealand aviation journalism.

Winner – Andrew Cleary, The Australian Financial Review, for consistently demonstrating an ability to not only report aviation news with clarity and insight, but to find news. He reported a number of exclusive stories and offered in-depth consideration of issues important to the industry. Cleary was runner-up for the award in 2011. He was presented with the Airservices Australia and Cathay Pacific Journalist of the Year trophy, $5,000 and two return business class tickets courtesy of Cathay Pacific.

Runner-up – Tom Ballantyne, one of the industry’s most respected journalists and who won the inaugural award in 2000. He has featured in the finalist list most years since then.

Other finalists – (in alphabetical order) – Gerard Frawley and Andrew McLaughlin, Australian Aviation & Australian Defence Business Review; Doug Nancarrow, Aviation Business Asia Pacific; Matt O’Sullivan, the Sydney Morning Herald.

2012 Aviation News Story of the Year

Entries in the news section of this year’s awards covered subjects as diverse as airline alliances and partnerships, lessons to be learned from the Queensland floods, airline plans and restructures in the quest to remain profitable, and defence force structure.

Entries in this category were judged on their news-breaking capacity, overall credibility and accuracy, the importance of the issues highlighted, level of understanding and writing style.

Winner – Andrew Cleary, Australian Financial Review for his story ‘Qantas forges Emirates tie’, which revealed the extent of negotiations between the two airlines months before the deal was confirmed, and which explored the implications for the local airline and the industry. He was presented the Embraer trophy and $2,500.

Runner-up – Doug Nancarrow, Aviation Business Asia Pacific for his story ‘Rockhampton shares lessons from the flood’, which provided an insight into the experience of Rockhampton Airport which was closed for 23 days during the Queensland floods.

Highly commended – Kristian Hollins, Australian Defence Business Review for ‘Air combat capability gap may be unavoidable’; Adrian Schofield, Aviation Week for ‘Profit plan: review aims to restore Air New Zealand’s international operations to financial health’; and Denise McNabb, Aviation Business Asia Pacific for ‘Air Pacific morphs for survival’.

2012 Aviation Technical Story of the Year

The Aviation Technical Story of the Year focuses on developments in aviation technology, and commercial aerospace, including aircraft, avionics and air traffic management.

The subject not only requires a sound knowledge of issues often highly technical in nature, but an ability to clearly communicate those issues to a broad readership.

Entries covered topics such as airspace management, aircraft crash investigation, the significant repairs to the Qantas A380 involved in the QF32 engine incident, defence and battlespace technology, pilot training and airport security.

Winner – Gerard Frawley, Australian Aviation for ‘Home again. The repairs and return of Qantas A380 VH-OQA Nancy Bird Walton’, which provided a detailed examination of the task facing Qantas and its engineers as they worked through 70,000 production and 50,000 design hours to return the damaged A380 to flight. The article chronicled the damage assessment process, the repairs and testing, and the emotional return journey home. Frawley received the Rolls Royce trophy and $2,500.

Runner-up – Doug Nancarrow, Aviation Business Asia Pacific for ‘Aviation security – inside the technology’, looking at the challenges faced by airports trying to find the balance between improved security technology and the cost and impact that comes with it.

Highly commended – Owen Zupp, Australian Aviation for ‘Threading the needle: GBAS comes of age’; Paul Phelan, Aviation Advertiser for ‘Crisis point for Australian aviation’; and Ruud van der Zwaal, Pacific Wings for ‘The final four minutes of Air France flight 447’.

2012 Aviation Feature of the Year

Each year, competition for this award is hard fought, no more so than in 2012. With 30 entries received from Australia and New Zealand, subjects were as diverse as insightful interviews with industry leaders to detailed examination of airline business models, the future of defence technology and force structure and pilot training.

Entries were judged on an ability to present issues of importance to the industry in a thought-provoking way, a demonstrated understanding of the issue discussed and the relevance and accuracy of the issue presented.

Winner – Michael Gisick, Australian Aviation for ‘A second Sydney Airport? One more time with feeling’, providing a fresh take on the options being considered and what is different about the debate this time around. Gisick received the Airbus Trophy and $2,500.

Runner-up – Andrew Cleary, Australian Financial Review for ‘Altitude slips, attitude holds up’, which contrasted the 61 per cent drop in Emirates’ net profits with the airline’s continued growth and the impact its Australian focus is having on the local industry.

Highly commended – Tom Ballantyne, Orient Aviation for ‘Shifting sands: Qantas’s potential deal with Emirates could tip balance away from Asian hubs’ and ‘The silver fox with golden touch: a hard act to follow’; Matt O’Sullivan, Sydney Morning Herald for ‘Have money will travel: the sky’s the limit for new breed of budget airlines’; and Robert Wilson, Flight Safety Australia for ‘Unmanned aircraft: a civil discussion’.

2012 Aviation Defence Story of the Year

2012 was the fifth year the defence category has been included. Entries covered topics such as the impact of federal budget cuts on the defence industry, force structure, the progress and future of a number of key defence programs and operational missions.

Entries were judged on the basis of subject value and importance to the industry, the writer’s demonstrated understanding of defence issues, depth of coverage, and style and accuracy.

Winner – Andrew McLaughlin, Australian Aviation for ‘Maturing teens: bridging the fighter generation gap’, a story that examined the blurring of the lines between the generations of fighter aircraft and the manoeuvering of countries and defence companies to bridge any perceived capability gaps in the future. McLaughlin was awarded the Boeing trophy and $2,500.

Runner-up – Nigel Pittaway, Defence Today for ‘Battlefield airlifter a done deal – or was it?’ which raised questions about the timing and certainty of the federal government’s decision to acquire 10 Alenia C-27J Spartan battlefield airlift aircraft.

Highly commended – Gerard Frawley, Australian Aviation for ‘Complex change – an interview with the chief of air force Air Marshal Geoff Brown’; Kristian Hollins, Australian Aviation for ‘Training haze: budget flak hits AIR5428’; and Doug Nancarrow, Aviation Business Asia Pacific for ‘Australia’s defence aerospace faces some uncertainty’.

2012 Online Contribution of the Year

A new category introduced in 2012, the award reflects the growth in digital and social aviation reporting through blogs, online magazines, newspaper websites and video channels.

Entries in this category were published uniquely online and were judged for their style, the author’s understanding of the topic and on their use of the online medium.

Winner – David Flynn, Australian Business Traveller for ‘Qantas inflight wireless iPad system in action’, an online article that demonstrated the value and flexibility of the online medium using words, photographs and video to transport readers onboard the aircraft he was writing about. Flynn was awarded the Air New Zealand trophy and $2,500.

Runner-up – Robert Wilson, Flight Safety Australia for ‘Mind your language’, which looked at the importance of words – and how they are delivered – in ensuring aviation safety.

Highly commended – Andrew Cleary, afr.com.au for ‘Airlines aim to fly beyond legacy’; Doug Nancarrow, Aviation Business Online for ‘Attempt to sully Airservices chief’s proud record’; and Andrew McLaughlin, Australian Aviation online for ‘Opinion: where politics and capability collide’.

2012 Aviation Photograph of the Year

This award represents an expansion of the photography category from Photograph of the Year to Photographer of the Year.

The award is designed to reflect the body of a photographer’s work during the year and their continued contribution and commitment to aviation photography.

Winner – Seth Jaworski, Australian Aviation. Jaworski received the Hawker Pacific and Singapore Airlines Trophy and $2,500.

Runner-up – Derek Flynn, Malborough Express.

Other finalists – Sam Chui, Peter Clark, Rob Finlayson, Rob Neil and Paul Sadler.