John F. Rahilly Memorial Scholarship

Business aviation is the use of any general aviation aircraft for a business purpose. The Federal Aviation Administration defines general aviation as all flights that are not conducted by the military or the scheduled airlines. As such, business aviation is a part of general aviation that focuses on the business use of airplanes and helicopters.

The business aviation community consists of companies of all sizes that rely on many different types of aircraft – from single-pilot airplanes, to turbine aircraft that fly internationally, to helicopters that survey rush-hour traffic – and the fixed-base operations and many other services that support flight operations at the nation’s 5,000 public-use airports. The vast majority of businesses in this community – 97 percent – are small- to mid-size businesses and other entities including nonprofit organizations. The tens of thousands of businesses in the business aviation community are:

Target Candidate

A student currently enrolled in an FAR part 147 A&P program.

Award Amount

Funds of $1,000 to be used for educational costs.

Notification/Award Period

Announced in Fall of 2025

U.S. Citizenship/Permanent Resident Status Required?

Yes

Other Requirements

Completed application package, which consists of current resume, essay and two signed letters of recommendation.

The Rahilly family has created this scholarship in coordination with NBAA Charities to honor the life of John F. Rahilly. Rahilly devoted over 40 years of his life as an A & P Technician, the majority of which was in business aviation. He was a graduate of Wentworth Institute in Boston, MA, and graduated first in his A&P class at Northrop Institute of Technology in CA. He was a veteran of the US Navy and CT Air National Guard. He was one of the first A&P Technicians on the Canadair Challenger program and quickly moved into leadership positions. He eventually became the President of KC Aviation and later held upper management positions at Gulfstream, BBA, Mercury Air Centers and Dassault Falcon Jet. Rahilly enjoyed teaching Professional Development Courses for Global Jet Services where he influenced and mentored many up and coming professionals in the field. It is serendipitous that Rahilly died on May 24, 2018, Aviation Maintenance Technician’s Day.

Rahilly had a wonderful sense of humor and was a humble leader who felt the janitor is as important as the CEO. He treated everyone fairly and respectfully and took pride in taking care of his employees. Rahilly always believed in providing first-class customer service.

Awards will be made to U.S. citizens without regard to sex, race, religion or national origin. Scholarships will be awarded in the Fall of 2024, and checks will be made payable to the school. Scholarship recipients must use the funds by Dec. 31, 2026, or risk forfeit of the award.

Applicant must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Completed application package, which consists of essay, current resume, two signed letters of recommendation, must be received by NBAA no later than the August deadline to be considered for the scholarship.

See application form for details

NBAA scholarship applicants are limited to receiving one award per person, every other year.

Direct all questions about this application to scholarships@nbaa.org.