NBAA Flight Plan Podcasts

As officials from North Carolina to New England assessed the damage caused by Hurricane Irene, NBAA assessed whether its Humanitarian Emergency Response Operator (HERO) database could be of assistance in relief efforts. The HERO database lists people in business aviation who are part of disaster-response mobilization efforts. In the aftermath of major crises, basic information from the database can be provided to organizations coordinating relief efforts.

Hurricane Irene is bearing down on the Eastern Seaboard, and the general aviation community is taking steps to protect people and aviation assets. Patrick Moylan, director of Health, Safety and Environment at Signature Flight Support, based in Orlando, FL, is directing preparations at eight FBOs in Hurricane Irene's path. Moylan and others offer tips for making hurricane preparations.

Raising awareness about general aviation and promoting an interest in flying are the twin goals of a first-ever fly-in being hosted in Beijing next month by representatives with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association in China. In this edition of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast, Jason Liao, NBAA's chief representative in Asia, joins others in discussing the event.

A new study by finance professors suggests that businesses run by pilots are substantially different than those run by non-pilots. One of the study's authors talks with NBAA Flight Plan podcast host Pete Combs, and Brad Pierce, the pilot-CEO of an NBAA Member Company, shares his thoughts.

Creating a trusting environment where employees can report safety issues without the threat of recrimination is at the heart of the safety management system (SMS) concept. NBAA has a new video to help you create such a culture, and Doug Carr, vice president of safety, security and regulation, discusses the video on this week's edition of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast.

In this week's episode of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast, Peggy Gilligan, Federal Aviation Administration Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, explains why a new Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement, establishing an official relationship between the two countries on matters of aviation technology and development, is so important.

In this special edition of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen talks about the variety of challenges confronting the business aviation community in Washington. Bolen details NBAA's response, and tells Members what industry can do to help.

Congress adjourned June 23 without passing a funding extension for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In this week's NBAA Flight Plan podcast and related article, Administrator Randy Babbitt and NBAA Senior Vice President Steve Brown tell Members what to consider when they're preparing for their next business aviation mission.

Although trans-Atlantic flights have been routine for decades, a particular mission from Morristown Municipal Airport to Paris, France was a flight for the history books, because one of the G450's powerful Rolls-Royce Tay Mk 611-8C engines was powered by a 50-50 blend of Jet-A and Honeywell Green Jet Fuel, derived from plants. It was the culmination of five years' research by a Honeywell subsidiary called UOP. "The fuel is fully approved. There's no change required in the (fuel) distribution structure or the engine infrastructure of the plane whatsoever," said UOP Vice President Jim Rekoske. This week's edition of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast features an interview with Rekoske.

In an interview immediately following President Obama's June 29, 2011, press conference, in which the president repeatedly vilified business aviation, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen discussed the response he's been sharing with news outlets across the country. "[The president] just simply perpetuated a caricature of business aviation that is at odds with the reality of how this industry operates in the United States." In the wake of the president's remarks, NBAA has conveyed the same message to news outlets including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Bloomberg News, CNBC, CBS Marketwatch and a host of others.

Have you ever found yourself surrounded by strangers in a strange place, unable to understand the language or the customs? Were you worried about your safety in those surroundings? That is often the case for the increasing number of women on either side of the cockpit door in business aviation. Jo Damato, NBAA's Director of Operations and Educational Development, is out to change that with a webinar scheduled for June 28 entitled "Women's Safety and Security: Threat Mitigation for the Traveling Female."

As NBAA and AOPA announced on June 22, the two associations are taking their case for protecting the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Department of Transportation (DOT) recently moved ahead with its plan to dismantle the BARR; NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen and AOPA President and CEO Craig Fuller discuss the need to pursue the legal action in a special edition of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast. "We're concerned and we're confounded," Fuller said. "This is an initiative from the Department of Transportation which solves no known problem."

The number of serious runway incursions at airports across the United States dropped more than 90-percent between 2000 and 2010, according to a recent announcement from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). "The entire aviation community can be credited with the remarkable success achieved in runway safety," according to a statement issued by the FAA.

Austin Executive Airport (EDC) staged its official grand opening on June 8, welcoming general aviation with an expanded runway and an FBO dedicated to providing premium customer service. In this episode of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast, Andrew Perry, vice president for development at EDC, discusses the excitement surrounding the new facility.

Following today's announcement from NBAA, AOPA and EAA that the three associations would challenge in court the DOT's plan to dismantle the BARR, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen discussed the need for NBAA Members to ensure that Congress hears from the industry about the program's value. Language to preserve the BARR recently passed the House of Representatives, and Bolen urged NBAA Members to use the Association's Contact Congress resource to call upon legislators to preserve the House measure in a final FAA reauthorization bill.