Each year the NBAA selects its Top 40 Under 40 Award recipients. Aviation industry members nominate candidates based on leadership, innovation, and community contributions. These nominations are then reviewed by the NBAA YoPro Council and NBAA staff. The NBAA Chooses Autism Charity Founder for 2025 Business Aviation Top 40 Under 40 Award.
Antonio Ferrara is the Founder and Executive Director of Aviators for Autism and has been selected as an award recipient.
His aviation beginnings:
His career in aviation began in ground ops then onto:
- Shift manager
- Training manager
- Procurement
- Staffing
- Quality Control
- Pilot Training
Then ultimately his own charter brokerage.
His new mission is to create employment opportunities in the aviation industry for neurodiverse individuals. His recent venture, The Allied Jet Agency, began as a franchisee of Stratos Jets and is now expanding by building partnerships with autism and neurodiverse advocacy organizations.
Aviators for Autism’s core mission is to expose, educate, and empower these individuals through aviation.
In his own words, “I started my own charter brokerage, an independent franchise of Stratos Jets Charters, with a simple mission: to provide other professionals with opportunities to pivot, grow or enter the charter sales space. We’re creating the industry’s first charter flight desk run by a neurodiverse workforce, allowing them a structured, inclusive working environment to thrive in.”
He has built the team up to 12 “Private Flight Advisors” and is beginning new marketing strategies with our friends over at Aviation Marketing Experts.
With so many career opportunities in aviation including dispatchers, engineers, even aircraft detailers, it seems the sky is the limit.
Just as SpaceX is doing at high schools in Florida, aviation companies can work with schools for developmentally disabled and gifted individuals. By identifying talented people at a younger age, their future could be working in training, engineering, or even aircraft manufacturing.
Aviators for Autism has held multiple events in the Farmingdale NY area. A “Trunk or Treat” event is planned for October 26th at Westhampton Beach, NY.
The plan is to expand events to Florida, where The Allied Jet Agency is based. Aircraft Guys is looking at possible collaborative events with the nonprofit in 2026.
NBAA Chooses Autism Charity Founder for 2025 Business Aviation Top 40 Under 40 Award
