Congressman Sam Graves Steps In As Opening Session Keynote Speaker

Attendees to the NBAA's general opening session who were expecting to hear one of FAA Administrator Michael Huerta's first speeches since the partial government shutdown ended last week were disappointed, as the administrator sent a letter to NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen Monday indicating that he would not be able to attend the conference in Las Vegas.

Bolen made the announcement during the opening general session Tuesday morning. He said he had received the letter from Huerta Monday in which the administrator said "I feel I must remain in Washington to complete an orderly re-opening of the agency, including the aircraft and airman registry. We are putting additional resources at the registry. We know we have to address this backlog quickly, efficiently, and comprehensively. Bolen said "I don't think we could expect anything less from our Administrator."

In his place, Missouri Republican Congressman Sam Graves (pictured), the chair of the House General Aviation Caucus, addressed the opening session. Graves said he is proud of the fact that 229 members of the U.S House of Representative, over half, have signed on to the caucus, and added that there is also now a 17-member House Pilot's Caucus that works on behalf of aviation issues on Capitol Hill. He also expressed his frustration about the shutdown of the Registry office that caused large portions of the aviation industry to grind to a halt for 16 days.

"If you're trying to get at the public and make the public hurt as much as possible in something like a shutdown, you look for those areas that are going to hurt and those areas that are going to be very vocal. You shut down aircraft registration, which this is the first time that it's been considered non-essential personnel, well you shut down an entire industry ... and it makes it very, very tough. You're obviously very vocal, and you talk to your members of Congress, and we are very vocal when it comes out too, and it adds pressure to that process."

Graves said that in the shutdown and beyond, aviation is one of those areas that politicians can use to rally popular support among the non-flying population. "I don't just limit my criticism to one administration or the other, In fact, we can go back to user fees, which started with President Bush, and I would get so aggravated at him because people in his administration didn't understand the devastation that would cause with general aviation. So it's not just specific to one party or another party, it's not specific to one administration or another, it is a lack of understanding ... from so many bureaucrats or members of Congress who don't understand the impact, that general aviation reaches out and touches every single community that it out there."

Also speaking at the general session were TSA Administrator John Pistole, whose remarks were far more focused on airline security than issues relevant to the business aviation audience he was addressing, and former Treasury Secretary John Snow.

At the end of the session, actor, pilot, and aviation advocate Harrison Ford was presented with the NBAA’s Al Ueltschi Humanitarian Award.

FMI: www.nbaa.org