A recent interview with NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen reveals optimistic projections for the Business Aviation Industry sector. Check out his thoughts on the industry’s ties to public air space, environmental impact, and more, below.
Although indicators in the business aviation industry have pointed in different directions this year, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen remains optimistic. In an interview with Monitor, he shares his reasons why and outlines the issues that are top of mind for the association, including keeping air space public and minimizing the industry’s environmental impact.
A theme of uncertainty has dominated just about everything in 2016, and business aviation is no exception. While the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) — an organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful — does not make predictions about the health of the industry, it does analyze the environment. This year, the association has been keeping an eye on both positive and negative factors throughout the global economy.
“Here in the U.S., which is the largest market by far, we do see that the economy is pretty stable,” says Ed Bolen, president and CEO of NBAA. “We see that flight hours are up, fuel sales look strong and many maintenance and repair shops report that they are busy. So there is some positive news.”
On the other hand, the most recent report from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) indicated year-over-year declines, with industry airplane shipments down 4.5%, airplane billings down 11%, rotorcraft shipments down 16.1% and rotorcraft billings down 32.5%. In a press release issued with this data, GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce stated that this is a “challenging global climate.”
This article originally posted on MonitorDaily.com.