Craig Sincock — owner, president and CEO of Avfuel Corp., an Ann Arbor-based aviation fuel and services provider — recently received the 2022 Kenn Ricci Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award at the 19th Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards, according to a new release from Avfuel.

Although Avfuel is based in Ann Arbor, many of its employees reside in Lenawee County.

Sincock was also inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation by actor and Official Ambassador of Aviation John Travolta during the ceremony on Jan. 21 in Beverly Hills, California.

The Living Legends of Aviation is an elite group of people with extraordinary accomplishments in aviation and aerospace, the release said. The honorees have more than 100 accomplished men and women among their ranks, including entrepreneurs, innovators, industry leaders, astronauts, record breakers as well as pilots who have become celebrities and celebrities who have become pilots. Some of the honorees include Neil Armstrong, Sir Richard Branson, Edsel B. Ford and Morgan Freeman.

In addition to his achievements as an aviation entrepreneur, Sincock is also an accomplished airline transport pilot.

When Sincock acquired Avfuel 37 years ago, the release said, he sought to disrupt and reinvent the aviation fuel supply chain. His tenacity drove Avfuel’s evolution from a regional fuel distributor operating in a few Midwestern states to a global supplier of aviation fuel and services, offering everything from aviation refueling equipment and comprehensive training programs to aviation insurance and sustainability solutions.

Sincock has dedicated his career to shaping and supporting the aviation industry. As such, he was instrumental in reimagining the role of fuel distributors, the release said. Competitor counterparts soon followed his business model.

Under Sincock’s leadership, Avfuel grew on a global scale. Starting with just three employees, Avfuel now supports more than 1,000 employees globally, conducting business in 149 countries and serving more than 5,500 flight departments with more than 3,000 global fueling locations.

The Avfuel Network also includes more than 650 Avfuel-branded fixed-base operators. The concept is similar to how oil companies brand gas stations, but many of these field base operators — located on airport fields — provide concierge services and amenities akin to upscale hotels.

Today, Avfuel supports all aviation sectors, including fixed-base operators, airports, corporate operators and helicopters, airlines, cargo/freight and the military.

Sincock views his business as a vehicle to serve the community through philanthropic initiatives, the release said. In addition to supporting aviation causes, including medical-flight and aviation-education institutions, veteran organizations, and aviation scholarships, Sincock and his wife, Sue Sincock, established the Susan L. Sincock and Craig R. Sincock Scholar Fund, which supports University of Michigan researchers devoted to solving some of medicine’s most complex challenges.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Local CEO receives lifetime achievement award