Wed, Oct 28, 2009
With the end of the 2009 NBAA Convention, the BizAv community
has had a chance to take stock of the year that has passed and
evaluate their future prospects. While attendance and participation
were obviously at lower levels than in year's past, the community
showed that it is willing to do what it must to survive, and is
seeking new opportunities and business venues as aggressive as the
current economic climate allows.
This year's NBAA Opening Session featured four primary
speakers... each with something to say that had an impact on the
BizAv community. This year's roster included FAA Administrator
Randy Babbitt; Forbes magazine publisher Rich Karlgaard; Tom
Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers; and Golfer and Business Aviation
Advocate Arnold Palmer.
One of the more intriguing selections for this year's speakers
roster was Tom Buffenbarger, president of the International
Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the union that
represents business aviation manufacturing workers. Buffenbarger's
union operates a Learjet 60 to be more efficient and productive.
The aircraft has flown to every U.S. state, Canadian province and
25 countries. Buffenbarger says the airplane is needed because he
is on the road 250 days a year, visiting five states on Labor Day
alone, a trip he could not have made on the airlines.
Buffenbarger said that in normal times, labor and management are
adversaries, "but these are not normal times. In this grave
recession, survival is a stake," he declared, noting that 30,000 of
his union's members are unemployed.
NBAA notes that TWICE in recent months, Buffenbarger has had an
opportunity to ask President Obama directly about coming to
Wichita, KS, a major source of business aviation manufacturing, to
see the "man-made devastation" caused by the negative rhetoric
regarding business aviation. "The President owes us a visit,"
declared Buffenbarger, who urged Convention Attendees to call the
White House to express that sentiment.
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