NBAA Flight Plan Podcasts

As NBAA announced last week, the fiscal year 2010 budget from the Obama Administration does not include user fees for aviation system funding or modernization. In this edition of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen reminds NBAA Members that continued vigilance on the issue will be important in the months and years ahead. Bolen also provides a look ahead at the pending FAA reauthorization legislation

While NBAA has enlisted well-known spokespeople like Arnold Palmer to remind policymakers and opinion leaders about the value of business aviation, this edition of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast highlights the value local voices have in underscoring the industry's value to citizens, companies and communities nationwide. "The people who are most effective at communicating and articulating how we operate are those within the local community," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen during visits with regional business aviation groups in Ohio and Illinois.

Business aviation's efforts to aid the people of Haiti are highlighted in the final special edition of NBAA Flight Plan. Ed Bolen, NBAA president and CEO, reminds the business aviation community that NBAA's aircraft registry will be open year-round for operators to register their aircraft to be used in relief efforts. The registry, he said, was one of the reasons that the business aviation community was able to respond so quickly and overwhelmingly to Haiti's needs. The efforts continue, and for more information, visit www.nbaa.org/haiti.

In the fourth episode from Haiti, Tradewind Aviation, an Oxford, CT-based charter company, has been flying daily missions from the Dominican Republic into Haiti to aid the relief efforts. Eric Zipkin, president of Tradewind Aviation, talks about how his pilots made a runway out of a road to bring supplies to Leogane, Haiti, near the epicenter of the earthquake. With roads and bridges out, aircraft like the Tradewind Cessna Caravans are the best way to reach those needing aid.

In part three of this special edition series of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast, business aviation pilots share their first-hand accounts of the missions they've flown in support of earthquake relief efforts. "Hundreds of flights from the U.S. are bringing desperately needed food, medicine, clothing and water to Haiti every day, and often bringing home young children orphaned by the quake," the story reports.

In part two of this special edition series of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast, reporter Pete Combs has the right seat in a Haiti earthquake relief mission provided with support from an NBAA Member's Mitsubishi MU-2. The flight, coordinated by the all-volunteer business aviation group Corporate Aircraft Responding in Emergencies (CARE), delivered hundreds of pounds of desperately needed supplies to a group of missionaries running an orphanage in Port Au Paix. "Some of the medicine delivered will save the lives of earthquake victims who have over-run the town's two hospitals," Combs reports.

This special edition of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast provides an on-the-ground report from Haiti on the many ways business aviation continues to bring medical teams, supplies and other relief cargo to Haiti and support earthquake relief efforts there. This report is the first in a series of special podcasts the Association will produce from Haiti.

Safety has always been a top priority for business aviation, and 2009 was one of the safest years on record for the industry. Data compiled by Robert E. Breiling Associates show that fatal accidents involving business aircraft were down 31% percent in 2009 as compared to the previous year. What's the key to the industry's continuing success in safety improvements? Breiling tells NBAA Flight Plan that many business aviation pilots "are as well trained as the airline pilots." Along with Breiling's comments and analysis, the podcast details the resources NBAA offers for enhancing Members' flight safety.

The business aviation community weathered one of the worst storms in recent memory in 2009. In this episode of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast, industry analysts Richard Aboulafia, Vice President, Analysis for the Teal Group Corporation and Brian Foley, Founder, Brian Foley Associates, discuss the marketplace outlook for 2010. Foley's comments come on the heels of a January 2009 report Foley released, which provides an outlook for the industry in the coming year.

A number of the business aviation community's challenges from Washington in 2009 were prompted at least in part on misperceptions about the industry. In response, NBAA and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association launched the No Plane No Gain advocacy campaign to educate policymakers and opinion leaders about the value of business aviation for citizens, companies and communities across the U.S. This NBAA Flight Plan podcast, the second of a two-part retrospective, reviews the progress campaign made throughout the year, and highlights other important industry events in and outside Washington.

The business aviation community faced many challenges in 2009, from Washington, DC and elsewhere. This NBAA Flight Plan podcast, the first of a two-part retrospective, reviews the progress made on these and other issues, and highlights the importance of grassroots activism.

As the No Plane No Gain advocacy campaign continually points out, companies that use business aviation frequently make their airplanes available for humanitarian missions - an especially welcome practice during the holiday season. In this episode of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast, Jay Wilhelm with STS Leasing, based in Lubbock, TX, talks about the ease of arranging humanitarian-support missions and the organizations that can help interested businesses get involved.

Steve Brown, senior vice president of operations, addresses questions - several provided directly by NBAA Members - about the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS). To take full advantage of NBAA's social media presence, NBAA Members sent their questions for the podcast NBAA's official Twitter feed @NBAA and Facebook Fan Page.

What is the latest on the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA's) proposed Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP)? In the time since the original LASP was withdrawn amidst a deluge of commentary from the business aviation community, the agency has been re-working the plan to take the industry's concerns into account. This edition of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast features TSA Deputy Administrator for General Aviation Brian Delauter, who shares his thoughts on when a new LASP might be introduced, and what its main components might be.

What are the most effective ways to address challenges common to industry professionals in the current business environment? Ever-increasing pressure to deliver new and better results and the need to manage people with little margin for error are also challenges that have faced George "Elwood" Dom, former Navy Blue Angels commander, and Ron "Maxi" Mumm, former Air Force Thunderbirds commander. The two men - who will share principles important to leading teams that rely on high performance, training and skill in their first-ever joint presentation at NBAA's Leadership Conference February 24-25, 2010 in San Diego, CA - share their thoughts on the issues in this episode of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast.