Avexus's Rich Bergmann Surveys The Atmosphere

By ANN Senior Editor Pete Combs

Rich Bergmann is as red-blooded an American as any other, but he has to admit, he likes what he's seen at the Paris Air Show this year.

"I never would have admitted prior to this that the French can do something better than the British," he told ANN from Paris, "but this is a great show."

Bergmann, whose company makes large asset-tracking software, was in Paris for the same reason a lot of Americans traveled to the Continent this year -- to do a little business at the Paris Air Show.

That stood in sharp contract to the situation in Paris just two years ago, when US citizens were encouraged by the White House to stay away because of the ongoing French refusal to back the US-led war in Iraq. No US flag officer was allowed to attend and the military displays American forces staged to impress their European counterparts were notably absent.

There was controversy this year as well, but, Bergmann said, a determined attitude on the part of most attendees not to let it ruin the show. This year, the big brouhaha centered on that huge World Trade Organization suit and counter-suit filed over aircraft manufacturer subsidies on both sides of the Atlantic.

But for all the flag-waving and saber-rattling going on in Washington and Paris, Bergmann said this year's Paris Air Show was actually a refreshing show of concordance -- at least, for the common man.

"There's a lot of harmony at the operator level," he said. "People in the trenches don't all have sabers drawn. There's more respect for each other" among suppliers to companies like EADS, Boeing and other world-class aerospace operations, Bergmann told ANN.

Knocked out of his socks by the Paris Air Show operation itself, Bergmann said it's about time the US gets in on the act.

"We should have this in the US each third year," he said. "Farnborough (which rotates with Paris in hosting the show -- it's in Farnborough in even years and Paris in odd years) is a logistical pain, but we should figure out a way to have this in the US. So many great suppliers can't afford to be here."

Hmmmm. ICAS, are you listening?

FMI: www.paris-air-show.com