Banyan Air Service Inspector Receives Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award

Dale Arthur Meiler, floor inspector at Banyan Air Service, was recently honored as a recipient of the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Meiler is one of only 3,018 recipients of The Charles Taylor Award, the most prestigious FAA award to an aviation maintenance technician. Named in honor of Charles Taylor, the first aviation mechanic in powered flight, award recipients are required to have 50 years of civil and/or military maintenance experience with no violations.

Meiler began his aviation maintenance career in the U.S. Army as a helicopter mechanic and served in the Vietnam War. After the military, he graduated from Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University with his A&P License. Meiler joined Banyan Air Service in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sept. 9, 1983, as the lead technician. During those early years, Meiler was crucial to Banyan’s maintenance department’s certification because of his experience and relationship with the FAA. He added quality into the inspection process and increased awareness, safety, and efficiency for the entire MRO department as the Floor Inspector.

“It was an honor and a pleasure to work with a man of Dale’s caliber. His professionalism and integrity served as bookends to his core commitment to quality and our customers’ safety,” said Lewis Homsher, quality manager of MRO Services at Banyan Air Service.

Meiler has mentored countless junior technicians and has been promoted to several positions of increased responsibilities during his 37 years with the Banyan team. Dale was also the recipient of the NATA Technician of the Year award in 2006. Banyan is proud to have been a part of Dale’s invaluable career in the aviation industry and congratulate him on his retirement.