Alpena native Chuck Blackaby receives FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for 50 years of safe flying
Why It MattersThe award points to a generation of career pilots now retiring from airlines, while training standards and costs for new pilots keep rising.
Chuck Blackaby, an Alpena, Michigan native, has received the Federal Aviation Administration's Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, recognizing 50 years of piloting with no accidents and no enforcement action against his certificate. The award honors pilots with 50 or more years of civil or military flying experience and an unblemished safety record. Recipients must hold a U.S. pilot certificate, have no certificates revoked, and demonstrate a sustained commitment to professionalism and safety. The FAA does not automatically track candidates; pilots must be nominated by themselves or a colleague.
Blackaby soloed in a Cessna 150 in Romeo, Michigan, on his 16th birthday in 1976, the youngest age permitted by law. He earned his private pilot certificate in the Detroit area and then trained as an aircraft mechanic. In 1987 he moved to Alpena for his first paid aviation job, as a mechanic for Welch Aviation at Alpena County Regional Airport, and built his advanced pilot ratings under operator Jeff Welch. He flew corporate flights, including an aircraft operated by Besser, and later flew Part 135 charter flights for Aviation North, an Alpena-based charter company.
In 2016 he joined St. Louis-based regional carrier Trans States Airlines for a year and a half. In late 2017 he moved to Frontier Airlines, where he flew Airbus aircraft and was promoted to captain. He flew for Frontier until reaching the mandatory airline pilot retirement age of 65 in July 2025. He and his wife have since relocated to Naples, Florida, where he flies a corporate turboprop.
Blackaby said he experienced several in-flight engine failures over his career, all in multi-engine aircraft. He noted that regulatory standards have tightened since the 1980s and 1990s, with the FAA pushing charter operators toward airline-style training and rigorous documentation, and that the cost of learning to fly has risen sharply; he said many graduates of intensive flight academies emerge with $120,000 to $140,000 in debt before their first job. He credited Welch and the Civil Air Patrol, as well as his family, for supporting his career.
