AIN Blogs

Another NBAA Convention is history, and not surprisingly the association pronounced it an “outstanding success” by every yardstick. Attendance was up by 7 percent over last year, as was the number of exhibitors. A total of 101 aircraft were on display, including 85 at the sold-out static display of aircraft at Las Vegas Henderson Executive Airport, five more inside the Las Vegas Convention Center and 11 additional aircraft at the first-ever outdoor static park next to the exhibition halls.

My job at this month’s NBAA show in Las Vegas was to present our AINtv webcasts. I’ve been working on AINtv since its launch in 2006 and it really is great fun—in fact, don’t tell my boss, but it’s light relief from the daily grind of churning out articles for AIN’s print and online editions.

Have you ever wondered why we keep putting off for tomorrow what we can do today, particularly when it comes to the issue of, yes—I’ll say it—global warming? Quite apart from the flat-earth crowd, the people who believe the overwhelming scientific evidence tend to acknowledge a need to do something about this existential threat.

The business aviation industry, as well as the associated companies, grow when confidence is high and retract when it’s low. As the economy slogs along for the third year in a row, with matching weak confidence, the time is now for the business aircraft manufacturers to announce bold plans for new models at the 2011 NBAA Convention next week in Las Vegas.