Featured Speaker: FAA Chief Blakey
NBAA's 56th Annual
Meeting & Convention formally began Tuesday with an Opening
General Session that celebrated the 100th anniversary of powered
flight. Darrell Collins, chief historian at the Wright Brothers
National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, recounted the aviation
pioneers’ early efforts. Also, astronauts Neil Armstrong and
Eugene Cernan joined aviation pioneer Harry Combs and the National
Aviation Hall of Fame’s Mike Jackson in underscoring the
industry's efforts to celebrate aviation’s heritage by
presenting the first annual Combs Award to photographer Dan
Patterson.
The Opening General
Session in Orlando (FL) also featured major presentations by FAA
Administrator Marion C. Blakey and John Mica, the Florida
Congressman who is chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee of the
House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
NBAA President Shelley A. Longmuir began the session by noting
that the challenge for the next 100 Years of Flight "is to advance
aviation – in all its forms – so that it more fully and
completely serves the needs and best interests of humanity. NBAA
has a big role to play in that effort,” she said. "Business
aviation is a critical factor in our national, integrated
transportation system. We are an undeniable contributor to economic
growth. As our economy continues to improve, demand for business
aviation will only increase.
The Association "must continue to advance the safety, security,
efficiency and acceptance of business aviation," Longmuir
continued. She pledged to advance and strengthen NBAA Member
services (especially those related to safety and security) and to
continue to collaborate and cooperate with Federal agencies such as
the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security
Administration on programs such as the Transportation Security
Administration Access Certificate (TSAAC).
Longmuir told the assembly NBAA is expanding its seminar
offerings, adding security training sessions and launching, in
partnership with the FAA, a series of new seminars on FAR Part 91
Subpart K regulations regarding fractional aircraft ownership
programs. In addition, the Association is working to raise the bar
in flight department management through its new Certified Aviation
Manager (CAM) Program.
"With your help and
your active involvement," Longmuir told the audience, "I intend to
build on the Association's existing advantages, to strengthen this
organization so that its message is more clearly understood and so
that the obstacles to our progress are removed or minimized. I also
intend to reframe and re-invigorate the Association's basic value
proposition so that current and potential Members see us as a true
industry leader," she concluded.
FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey discussed the importance of
continuing to work for passage of the FAA reauthorization bill,
which has been held up because of the "unfortunate
mischaracterizations of contract towers and the great services they
provide." Refuting allegations by the air traffic
controllers’ union that safety is being "sold to the lowest
bidder," Blakey said that the contract tower program has certified
safety benefits and is a "far cry from privatization."
Blakey also described in detail the FAA’s new strategic
five-year plan and a variety of other agency initiatives:
- Increasing airspace system capacity through "new technology,
procedures and pavement"
- Improving aviation's safety record, especially in Alaska
- Working with the new European Aviation Safety Agency to ensure
standardization of safety rules
- Converting the FAA into a performance-based organization
through implementation of sound business practices
Congressman John Mica
(R-FL), who said the FAA "needs vast reorganization," expressed
confidence that Blakey and her people "can get the job done."
Weighing in on the FAA reauthorization controversy, Mica decried
the "shameless" efforts of controllers to derail the FAA
reauthorization bill and predicted that the legislation will
pass.
However, Mica spent most of his time focusing on business
aviation's paramount current concern – the impact of aviation
security regulations. Stating that "there is nothing more important
than security," Mica said, "We need [security] systems based on
risk and commonsense. We don’t need 16-foot-high fences
around every general aviation airport." Admitting that he was
partly responsible for creating the TSA, he promised, "Before I
leave office I will make it work right," which prompted applause
from the audience. Attendees also responded enthusiastically to
Mica's assertion that “there is no reason why we can’t
fly business aircraft into Reagan National Airport."