Someone will be conspicuously absent Thursday from the 46th annual Tony Jannus Award celebrations: the recipient. U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is tied up in legislative sessions in Washington this week and will miss all the award events, said Patrick Harrison of Paradise Advertising & Marketing.
"This is the first time ever in my recollection and is unfortunate,'' Harrison wrote in an e-mail.
Since 1964, the area's business community has presented the award to a person who made significant contributions to commercial aviation. Past winners included British entrepreneur Richard Branson, test pilot Chuck Yeager and top executives from 24 airlines. Jannus flew the world's first scheduled airline flight from St. Petersburg to Tampa in 1914.
Oberstar will tape speeches for the award dinner at the Tampa Airport Marriott and a morning press conference at the St. Petersburg Museum of History, Harrison said.
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