50th Anniversary Conference On Pace For Record Attendance

The Aircraft Electronics Association tells ANN attendees are turning out in record numbers to help the AEA celebrate its 50th anniversary. Aero-News will be on site in Reno throughout the 2007 Conference and Trade Show, to bring our readers the latest news and developments in the aircraft electronics industry.

It certainly appears news will be made, too. AEA tells ANN this year’s convention already is on pace for record attendance, and that the Exhibit Hall is sold out. More than 30 companies are scheduled to present new products, while 90 hours of training is available throughout the convention.

Industry leaders will also present a user fees panel at the event... and FAA Administrator Marion Blakey will deliver the keynote address at the convention’s official opening (which, as all with appearances made by the Administrator of late, is guaranteed to touch on the user fee battle.)

From 0800 to 1130 Friday, March 30, the AEA Annual Regulatory & Industry Affairs Session will be moderated by Paula Derks, AEA president (shown at right), and Ric Peri, AEA vice president of government & industry affairs.

In addition to its "Safety Management Systems" panel -- featuring representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration, National Air Transportation Association, and Transport Canada, and the FAA’s "Leadership: Here and Abroad" panel -- the "User Fees – Funding Our Air Transportation System" panel will discuss the negative effects of a user-fee structure to fund the FAA and the Air Transportation System as proposed by the FAA and the airlines.

Ed Bolen, president/CEO of the NBAA, Pete Bunce, president/CEO of GAMA, and Andy Cebula, executive vice president of government affairs for the AOPA, will participate in the "User Fee" panel.

The AEA will return to the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, NV in 2011, for the annual AEA International Convention & Trade Show. But next year, the Association is heading to the nation’s capital, where the Association’s government and industry affairs office is located.

The AEA will be the first aviation group to host an event at the new Gaylord National Resort on the Potomac when the Association brings its 2008 AEA International Convention & Trade Show to Washington, DC. The brand-new resort opens in March 2008, and the AEA will host its annual convention from April 23-26, 2008.

FMI: www.aea.net