John Morris Retired Editor- in- Chief of Aviation Week’s ShowNews

John Morris has led Aviation Week Network’s ShowNews for 27 years. His background in business journalism includes Reuters in London and Chicago, the American Banker daily newspaper, together with senior leadership roles as business news editor at the Milwaukee Journal and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Yet his aviation career started at 14 working in the control tower at Biggin Hill Airport.

A lifelong aviation enthusiast, John has been a private pilot for more than 40 years and won an award at EAA Oshkosh for his restoration of a vintage British Auster army spotter aircraft. This year he completed and flew a 1920s’ Staaken Flitzer biplane, built over 15 years from plans. He was introduced to aviation by his father, a former PR manager for Hawker Siddeley Aviation and Northrop and Lockheed. He took John to Farnborough Air Show in 1952, when he was eight months old.

At the big air shows and business aviation events over the past 27 years John Morris has been a constant, delivering content rich news and insight and managing an international team of writers, photographers and art editors as Editor in Chief of Aviation Week’s ShowNews. In November he announced he was retiring from the title, having overseen a record 560 issues. Alison Chambers highlights his five-decade career in aviation.

How has 2020 been for you?

Personally it’s been a year of highs especially flying my (Staaken Flitzer) vintage biplane, which I have been building from scratch for 15 years, Being recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 Aerospace Media Awards. They were held virtually from Washington DC, during what should have been Farnborough Show week in July.

An obvious low has been the Coronavirus pandemic and its tragic impact worldwide. We couldn’t have known at the time that February’s Singapore Airshow would be the last major aerospace event for a very long time. It’s just been announced that Paris Air Show in 2021 won’t go ahead and MEBA, originally rearranged from November, won’t take place in February either. Realistically, I don’t see the major shows coming back until the Fall, sadly.

Tell us about some of your career highlights

One Paris Air Show I was instrumental in bringing together (at a reception) Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir and Indonesia’s future President B.J. Habibie for an unplanned, but lively debate on their rival aerospace ambitions in Asia. At the Berlin Air Show it was riding the 10-seat Eurofighter fairground simulator with Typhoon test pilot Chris Worning. “Surprisingly realistic!,” he declared and at Farnborough Air Show, being told by a PR executive of a major company that for him to enquire if their chairman was indeed a Morris dancer would be a career-threatening question.

Highlights producing Show issues over the years included having to swiftly set up a news room in the local hotel’s restaurant (and being looked after very well) when the generator at our Farnborough Show office caught fire; the fabulous thank you parties thrown by Sheikh Mohammed in the early years of the Dubai Air Show and 20 years of producing Chinese language Show Dailies, delivering solid, long term friends in Asia.

Will the lack of shows continue to hurt our sector?

We all miss the camaraderie, networking, excitement and inspiration that the shows generate, but humans have proven to be ingeniously adaptable. While physical shows might be slow to return, resilient events such as VBACE indicate that virtual meetings are going to play a growing role in the future.

Is the media landscape changing?

Most definitely. Many print publications are shrinking or disappearing as they grapple with the very real digital challenges of defining a product, holding readers’ attention, and generating revenues. I think smaller publishers will have to find new ways to get noticed and engage with their audience.

You are making some big changes of your own?

I retired from ShowNews last month , but I’m not leaving the planet! I have eight more lives to go before I’m through! My new consultancy is Fine Pitch Aviation Services. It will encompass my aviation activities, from light aircraft maintenance to writing and consulting. And I’m looking forward to more flying in my home-built aircraft. There’s nothing like it. The noise, the wind, the total concentration . . . and the thrill!

How will business aviation fare next year?

Business aviation will lead the recovery in air travel I’m sure. Charter companies will do especially well, if they can continue to keep winning and retaining first-time customers.

Who has impressed you since the pandemic with their adaptability?

Many companies have shown great resilience as well as creativity. They haven’t just thrown up their hands in despair. I think great credit should go to NBAA and EBAA for their leadership and lobbying roles, and for constantly helping to polish the public image of business aviation in these difficult times.

What do you hope the incoming US Government will bring?

Swift action on both the economy and the pandemic to speed a rapid recovery. The arrival of the Pfizer Biontech vaccine is the best end to what has been a turbulent year.

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 17th December 2020 | Issue #586

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