It is ranked as the fifth largest trade show in the United States. The National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA) Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition, attracts over 25,000 key aviation professionals from around the world, including current and prospective aircraft owners, manufacturers and customers into one meeting place. This year the ‘mustattend’ event will be held from November 17 to 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada. And it is getting bigger and bigger. The NBAA 2015 will feature over 1,100 exhibitions displayed across one million square feet of floor space and two static displays of aircraft.

As the most important business aviation event of the year, NBAA 2015 offers attendees an unparalleled opportunity to learn about the latest issues affecting the industry. And as the largest gathering of the industry in the world, NBAA 2015 is the best place to review the latest business aviation products, technologies and services, while participating in dozens of education sessions and making side-by-side comparisons of the innovative aircraft on static display.

The event gets a number of industry sponsors such as Air BP; Airbus; Air Cost Control; Bombardier; CAE; Cutter; Embraer Executive Jets; Epic; Global Parts Aero; Global Capital; Jeppesen; Jetex; Kaiser Air; Landmark Aviation; Philips; Pratt & Whitney, Canada; Satcom Direct; Shell Aviation; Smartsky Networks; Swiss Re Solutions; TAC Air; Textron; True Blue Power; UAS International Trip Support; Universal Avionics; Universal Weather and Aviation; Wheels Up; and World Fuel Services.

Founded in 1947 and based in Washington DC, the NBAA is the leading organisation for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful. The Association represents over 10,000 companies and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community.

Featured Speakers

One of the best parts of the convention will be the speeches by the featured speakers who come from varied walks of life. Award-winning singer and songwriter Dierks Bentley, a licensed pilot who values business aircraft and utilises business aviation, will be a featured speaker during the Opening General Session.

Bentley will discuss how his Cirrus SR22T Xi aircraft has helped him in his performing career. The country music star has crisscrossed the country countless times while on tour, and has said that flying his own plane, instead of riding a tour bus, optimises the efficiency of his travel.

“Dierks Bentley has first-hand knowledge of the utility of business aircraft,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “We look forward to having this talented musician and pilot at NBAA 2015, to detail how the use of an airplane for business has applied to his music career.”

Since 2003, the vocalist and guitarist has recorded eight albums and garnered 13 number-one songs. Bentley has received 11 Grammy nominations and earned official membership in the Grand Ole Opry.

The other featured speaker is the Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin. In 2004, Fallin was honoured with the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame’s Clarence E. Page Memorial Trophy for her work in establishing the Oklahoma Task Force on Aviation, which is dedicated to strengthening the state’s aerospace companies and attracting new aviation businesses to the Sooner State.

After serving as Lieutenant Governor for 12 years, Fallin served two terms in the US House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011, and was a member of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, and it’s Aviation Subcommittee. She has a few hours remaining to complete the requirements for obtaining her private pilot’s licence, and is a member of the Oklahoma Pilots Association.

Attendees will be looking forward to the address by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta. “NBAA is honoured to have Administrator Huerta as a speaker at our convention,” said Ed Bolen. “As Washington policymakers are debating important issues related to the FAA – from the implementation of NextGen to the future structure of the agency itself – Administrator Huerta’s insights will certainly be of interest to our attendees.”

Huerta was confirmed as FAA Administrator in January 2013 and is responsible for the largest aviation system in the world. He oversees the agency’s 47,000 employees and its Next-Gen air traffic control modernisation programme, which will transform air traffic control (ATC) from a ground-based system to one based on satellite navigation.

UAS technology - new opportunities

At the upcoming event, seminars will address the rapid maturation of ‘detect and avoid’ UAS technology, and existing and potential uses of s-UAS in business aviation.

Approximately 30 representatives from the UAS and manned aircraft industries, the federal government and other aviation stakeholders will work on the task force.

Bolen expressed his support for an announcement by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of a new joint industry-government task force created to develop a process for registering unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx said the task force – composed of 25 to 30 representatives from the UAS and manned aviation industries, the federal government and other aviation stakeholders – is expected to issue its proposal by November 20, with the intent of launching the registration programme in time for the US holiday season, during which the agency expects several thousand UAS to be given as gifts to new recreational users.

“The UAS industry has long been identified as an important and emerging one, as demonstrated by the introduction, development and use of UAS, all of which have grown exponentially in recent years,” Bolen noted. “That said, it appears the FAA’s framework for ensuring their safe introduction into the nation’s air transportation system needs to be quickly developed and refined.

“Today was a good day in that regard, because the DOT and FAA have come together with industry stakeholders in recognition of this need, and to begin the process for putting this framework in place,” Bolen continued. “While we don’t yet know the full details of what will be developed, we support the FAA’s intensified focus in this area. We are also investigating how NBAA can best support this activity, and we will do all we can to help ensure this collaborative process will result in the development of a needed framework for UAS.”

NBAA on board. NBAA has accepted the invitation to be among the participating organisations on the recently announced UAS Registration Task Force Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), which will determine regulations governing the registration of private and recreationally operated UAS. Sarah Wolf, NBAA Senior Manager of Security and Facilitation, will represent the business aviation community on the task force.

NBAA has long maintained that it is imperative that any introduction plan for UAS be focused on safety. This means UAS should not share the same airspace with manned aircraft until they have equivalent certification and airworthiness standards as manned aircraft, including the ability to take timely directions from air traffic control, and to sense and avoid manned aircraft and other UAS.

“The UAS industry has long been identified as an important and emerging one, as demonstrated by the introduction, development and use of UAS, all of which have grown exponentially in recent years,” Bolen noted. “That said, it appears the FAA’s framework for ensuring their safe introduction into the nation’s air transportation system needs to be quickly developed and refined.

“Today was a good day in that regard, because the DOT and FAA have come together with industry stakeholders in recognition of this need, and to begin the process for putting this framework in place,” Bolen continued. “While we don’t yet know the full details of what will be developed, we support the FAA’s intensified focus in this area. We are also investigating how NBAA can best support this activity, and we will do all we can to help ensure this collaborative process will result in the development of a needed framework for UAS.”

UAS offers great promise. While UAS offer great promise for a variety of applications – including opportunities within the business aviation community – NBAA has long maintained that safety must be the top priority for any plan to introduce UAS into the national airspace system (NAS). This includes assurances that unmanned aircraft meet equivalent certification, airworthiness and traffic avoidance standards as manned aircraft.

NBAA has been actively involved in the introduction process, including participation by association personnel in UAS working groups through RTCA since 2006. Last month, NBAA also welcomed the FAA’s selection of two respected aviation professionals to lead the agency’s UAS Integration Office and spearhead efforts to safely introduce UAS into the nation’s airspace.