Michael J. "Mick" Pittard

Mick Pittard was born in Indianapolis in 1942. He joined the Navy after high school and was a “plank owner” as an original crewmember on the USS Enterprise.  After his military service, Mick earned an accounting degree from Ball State University and earned his Private pilot certificate in 1974.

Wanting to combine his aviation interest with business, Mick purchased the fixed-base, training, and charter operator at the Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport. He later added Kokomo Aviation. He started Direct Air which featured daily scheduled flights between Kokomo and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. For a brief time, the company also offered commuter flights from Marion, Indiana to O’Hare. In 1981, Mick acquired Lafayette Aviation serving Purdue University’s Aviation School and established Aviation Charter Services to provide charter flights from Indianapolis International Airport. Mick was active as a pilot in all his companies earning his Airline Transport Pilot certificate with Beechcraft Hawker, Cessna Citation, and Learjet type ratings eventually logging 13,000 flight hours.

He was a leader in aviation, serving as a Director and later Chairman of the National Air Transportation Association and chair of the Governor’s Indiana Aviation Asset Review Committee.

Inducted 2022.