The chairman, president and chief executive officer of FedEx, Frederick W. Smith, was named the recipient this morning of the 2011 Tony Jannus Award for contributions to the airline industry.
Smith will receive the award on Oct. 27 at a dinner banquet at the Tampa Airport Marriott.
Smith was acknowledged for developing FedEx into an internationally renowned shipping corporation since he founded the company in 1971. FedEx has expanded to more than 200 countries, with 285,000 employees, 694 aircraft and 80,000 vehicles.
"Smith has aimed to make the use of airplanes one of the primary modes of transportation for shipments, and has been an active proponent of regulatory reforms, free trade, and the 'open skies agreement,' " the Jannus committee said in a release.
Smith graduated from Yale University and was an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.
The chambers of commerce in Tampa and St. Petersburg created the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society in 1964 in the name of the aviator who founded the world's first scheduled airline, which began round-trips between St. Petersburg and Tampa in a flying boat in 1914.
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