2006 NBAA Annual Report

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGEDear NBAA Member CompanyRepresentative:The 2006 NBAA Annual Report reviews theactivities of the Association during the past12 months. This letter highlights some of themost important developments that have takenplace at NBAA, and how those actionsstrengthen the Association’s efforts to serve you, its Members.During the past year, your Association has devoted its efforts to thetwin challenges of championing the interests of the industry in thefederal policy arena while providing Member Companies with the best,most up-to-date operational and technical support so that you cancontinue to fly safely, securely and efficiently.AdvocacyIn 2006, NBAA’s primary advocacy challenge has been to counterproposals to dramatically restructure funding and governance of thenational air transportation system. Specifically, the Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) reauthorization process, which is scheduled toconclude in late 2007, is being viewed by some as an opportunity tooverhaul the way the FAA is funded and who makes decisions aboutthe aviation system.The Air Transport Association (ATA), the lobbying group for theairlines, has a proposal that would transfer $2 billion of their costs ontogeneral aviation through the imposition of user fees on GA. The plan,designed to let airlines pay less to use the aviation system while exertingmore control over it, would be calamitous to general aviation, especiallycompanies that rely on business aviation to help them succeed.NBAA has forcefully opposed the airlines’ plan from the outset. Shortlyafter the ATA introduced its proposal, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolensent a letter urging NBAA Members to use NBAA’s online ContactCongress resource to make federal legislators aware of the industry’sstrong, unified opposition to the plan and interest in retaining the currentefficient system under which business aviation pays its fair share of aviationsystem costs through fuel taxes. Independently and with other generalaviation associations, NBAA has continued to keep awareness of theissue high through the media and industry forums. In the coming months,NBAA will continue to remind elected officials of the industry’s oppositionto any user fee plan.NBAA also has been active in its advocacy efforts withfederal regulators. A 2005 accident involving complexaircraft owner and charter arrangements resulted inincreased scrutiny and possible new regulation from the FAA.NBAA co-hosted a series of operational control workshopsacross the U.S. to voice concerns from the industry withagency officials; FAA officials took the concerns into accountand made significant changes to their initial policy planning.Safety and OperationsNo less important are the Association’s efforts to promote safety and tohelp its Members deal with the operational challenges they face eachday. Business aviation safety is the industry’s highest priority, and NBAAis dedicated to maintaining the community’s strong safety record.In 2006, NBAA continued its long-standing efforts to produce anddisseminate information about safety best practices. The Associationalso built upon its successes in bringing all segments of the industrytogether at events focused on safety.For example, the annual Corporate Aviation Safety Seminar (CASS)had its best turnout ever in 2006, with more than 400 people in attendance.The event, which has been jointly hosted by NBAA and FlightSafety Foundation since 1998, is considered a leading venue for businessaircraft operators to discuss and exchange safety information.To further enhance the safety focus of the Association, NBAA addeda second safety-themed event in 2006. The Association partnered withBombardier Aerospace and the FAA to produce the Safety Standdown,an annual event that seeks to improve business aviation safety byfocusing on human factors.In 2006, NBAA developedseveral newMember benefits thatenhance safety and efficiency.The Forum forEnhanced Reliability andMaintainabilityStandards (FERMS) is anInternet-based tool thatprovides manufacturersand operators, through acentral information clearinghouse,with real-time information about business aircraft maintenanceand performance. Another web-based product is the National AirspaceSystem Status Briefing (NASSB), a user-friendly resource that provides aninstant snapshot of domestic ATC traffic management initiatives andrestrictions (shown).NBAA also introduced a new newsletter, titled NBAA Navigator,which is produced by NBAA’s GA Desk and designed to alert Memberflight departments about important air traffic controlchanges and other national airspace operational challengesin a concise and easy-to-reference format. Membershave responded very positively to this valuable and userfriendlyprinted resource.In addition, NBAA updated and strengthened theAssociation’s Management Guide and Airports Handbook(coming by year’s end), each of which contains extensiveinformation on business aviation safety. The Association2 2006 NBAA ANNUAL REPORT