BBGA CEO Marc Bailey is This Year’s Outstanding Contribution to Aviation Award Recipient

Marc Bailey, CEO of The British Business General Aviation Association, is this year’s recipient of the prestigious Michael Wheatley Award for Outstanding Services to Aviation.  Marc celebrates 15 years steering the largest national business aviation association in Europe, following a four-decade career working with blue-chip aerospace organizations, including British Airways and Cobham.  He started his career as a technician apprentice with BA predecessor BOAC at London Heathrow.

Presenting him with the accolade coinciding with the Association’s annual conference and AGM on 11 March at London’s Royal Leonardo Hotel, London City, BBGA Chair Aoife O’Sullivan thanked Marc for his stellar contribution on behalf of the Association’s nearly 200 members, including successfully navigating BBGA through the pandemic.

Drawing on his strengths as a professional aviation engineer, Marc’s achievements at BBGA include working tirelessly on the progression of JAA through to the inception of EASA and representing ECOGAS while serving the original EASA advisory board for many years. Under Marc’s stewardship BBGA established an active Board of directors and created specialist working groups to better serve its members.

In 2016, he negotiated a joint agreement between BBGA and the European Business Aviation Association, enabling all UK members to receive membership of EBAA and BBGA as one, delivering closer ties between the two trade associations.

Marc has earned the respect of the Department for Transport and the UK Civil Aviation Authority.  He established General Aviation for Business (GA4Biz) as a collaboration with the British Helicopter Association (BHA); ARPAS, the Drone Association and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Such cooperation has proved to be highly effective and vital to the future development of aviation, as this 2025 annual conference attests with its theme ‘Running Together.’

Marc Bailey worked as a Part 66 B1/B2/C engineer before graduating to line engineer and subsequently taking management roles with British Airways, including Chief Project Engineer for the Boeing 777 and Chief Fleet Engineer for Concorde, Airbus and the BAC 1-11. Prior to joining BBGA, Marc held the role of Head of Quality, Continuing Airworthiness and Training at Cobham Aviation Services (formerly FR Aviation), an organization he joined in 1998. He holds a degree in Air Transport Engineering from The City University and an MBA from Lancaster University.

Passionate about next gen

Marc is passionate about fostering the next generation of aviation professionals with his commitment to skills and training for the industry.  Always at the forefront of discussions with Government and the CAA on the matter, he has worked with TRS to create the Aviation Skills Retention platform, latterly the recruitment platform. Here, he provided an effective link between Government and industry, enabling the facility to be free to use at the point of contact. 

Marc chairs an impressive list of key industry groups and/or holds formal board positions that support aviation. This includes: Chair of the United Kingdom Airworthiness Strategic Forum (UKASF); Chair of the European Continued Airworthiness Group (ECAG); Chair of the CAA Finance and Service Forum (FSF); President and Chair of the European Council of General Aviation Support (ECOGAS); Chair of General Aviation for Business (GA4Biz); Board member and director of the General Aviation Awareness Council (GAAC) and Member of Next Gen Aviation Staff, Airfields, Tax and Regulations under the UK APPG (All-Party Political Groups for Aviation.)