This past May, Anthony Imparato received the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award from the Federal Aviation Administration. The award recognizes the lifetime accomplishments of senior mechanics in the aviation maintenance industry.
Anthony grew up in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY, near LaGuardia Airport, and was inspired to pursue a career in aviation from his fascination with airplanes from a young age. He always knew he wanted to pursue a career in aviation and received his license in 1974 from Aviation High School in Queens, NY. He began his career as a flight line mechanic for Capital Airways at JFK Airport and has since filled many different roles in his over 50-year career in aviation. He served on the board at George T. Baker Aviation Technical College in Miami-Dade County and was a chairman of the Beacon Council Aviation Committee, Miami-Dade. His other membership appointments include the AMA (Avionic Maintenance Association) and ARSA (Aeronautical Repair Station Association).
After working the flight line, Imparato became a manager of aircraft maintenance and technical instructor for Eastern Airlines. He conducted training classes on the L-1011, B-757, B-727, A-300, B747, CF-6, RB-535, JT8D engines, and boroscoping. When reflecting upon his memories of training pilots and maintenance personnel, he recalls them as some of his fondest yet most challenging tasks.
In the 1990s, Anthony was promoted from Director of Aircraft Maintenance at Butler Aviation to VP of Sales and Marketing Services in Garden City, New York. He served as Senior vice president of Quality and Operations at Kellstrom Industries from 2001 to 2005 and then worked for Barfield in Miami, Florida, moving from Senior vice president of Quality to Senior vice president of Operations at six locations until 2021 when he retired. In 2022, he began serving in an advisory role at Aero Instruments and Avionics in Western New York.
Upon receiving the Charles Taylor Award, Imparato said, “It’s a great honor to receive such a prestigious award and be part of the only 30,000 recipients in the world. When asked about how it feels to receive such a rare award, Anthony said, “It’s a great honor to receive such a prestigious award and be part of the only 30,000 recipients in the world to wind this award since its beginning. As I look back at my career, I am blessed to have met many talented people who played a huge role in my development. Also, the support from my family was always with me. I’m thankful to all of them.”