Mike Davis Award 2025
Mike Davis Award is a Lifetime Achievement Award named after our dear friend, Mike Davis, who was a true legend of Aviation, and fantastic supporter of AsBAA. Mike was the consummate professional, and one of the most charismatic and magnetic individuals I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Although he passed away in 2014, Mike’s legacy lives on in business aviation in Asia until today.
This year’s Mike Davis Award is presented to Mr. Gary Dolski. Gary has recently retired as the CEO of Metrojet after a 43 years career.
Gary began his career at Bristol Aerospace in 1981, in his homeland of Canada, working for various companies in various countries. He gained a reputation for contracts, commercial, and project management, until he joined Learjet as Director Contracts in 1999. He then held various positions within Bombardier until 2010, with his last position being Director - authorized service facilities. He spent the next 2 years as the Vice President of Customer Support for MD helicopters. After which, he relocated to Asia as VP/GM for Jet Aviation Singapore, also then fulfilling some other roles for Jet Aviation in the USA. In 2017, he returned to Asia as the CEO of Metrojet, retiring at the end of 2024.
Gary's extensive experience covered business development and strategy, customer support, finance, commercial, aircraft manufacturing and refurbishment, program management, maintenance depots, business terminal buildings, and aircraft management and charter in the civil, military and general aviation sectors.
Besides those business skills, what sets Gary apart from the rest is his amazing Humanity and team focus. Few leaders go to such lengths to show such genuine love and support for their team. He doesn’t just lead from the top - he connects with staff at all levels, making everyone feel seen, valued, and supported. Ethics, Integrity, and Safety were always first and foremost to Gary. Cutting corners was never allowed. His staff always knew that he would not only back them, but also stand in front of them if there was an issue. This approach didn't just stop within his company, if an MRO/FBO competitor needed a tool or a tug urgently, they could always call his team and they would provide - no questions asked.
With respect to AsBAA, Gary was a strong supporter of many AsBAA initiatives such as Women in Aviation and Discovery. While at Metrojet, he implemented an internship program with some of the Hong Kong Universities resulting in hirings of students upon their graduation. He also became a member of Hong Kong Polytechnik‘s Advisory Board for Engineering, promoting business aviation as a career possibility. Similarly, in Singapore, he initiated the Jet Aviation partnership with Air Transport Training College (ATTC) for On the Job Training for aircraft technicians and influencing course and training requirements.