Nov. 6, 2009 (PR Newswire) -- PHOENIX, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- AVIATION WEEK has named the winners and finalists of its sixth annual 2009 Program Excellence Awards, identifying 14 aerospace and defense (A&D) programs at BAE Systems, Boecore, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins, and SpaceX as the leaders in their fields. The awards were announced at the AVIATION WEEK A&D Programs Conference in Phoenix, AZ on November 3.

"These awards recognize programs that excel based on value creation, adapting to complexity, and organizational processes and metrics," said Tom Henricks, president of AVIATION WEEK. "The leading programs this year address the challenging issues facing transportation, space exploration, security and defense at a time when programs and budgets are under intense scrutiny."

"The art of leadership is what differentiates 'okay' from 'good' from 'excellent,'" said Anthony L. Velocci, Jr., editor-in-chief of Aviation Week & Space Technology, as he addressed attendees of the Program Excellence Banquet. "The leaders of these top programs paid significant attention to controlling design configurations; managing risks, issues, and opportunities; and integrating a geographically and culturally dispersed supply team.