The design of the trophy changed several times, becoming a representation of the Aerospace Journalist of the Year logo, and then a simple engraved glass 'spike'.
Contest entries (copies of published articles or broadcasts) were received from publications and authors, then copied and redistributed to judges in each category, who then narrowed the submissions down to a few finalists (the prestigious "Shortlist") in each category, which was then published on the organization website during the months leading up to the banquet.
Then from the category winners, a tally of judges' scores determined the one overall "Aerospace Journalist of the Year," and one Honoree for a "Decade of Excellence" Award.
In London, the AJOYA ceremonies have taken place at the Ballroom of the Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly,[5] and at the Royal Courts of Justice and they directly preceded the biennial Farnborough Airshow.
Initially, relatively few of the world's aerospace journalists competed, and the awards were almost exclusively from the U.S. and Britain, with a few contestants from Western Europe and British Commonwealth nations.
However, as the years went by, many more entered the contests, and additional categories of judging were added, and non-English entries were admitted (and translated into English for the judges), drawing contest entries from throughout the world—Russia and Eastern Europe, China and East Asia, South Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Judges were chiefly leading aerospace industry editors & writers, and business/technical leaders & experts—largely chosen from the ranks of former AJOYA winners or "Shortlist" finalists—from around the world.