Teterboro, NJ – The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) held its 24th Annual Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference (SDC2013) in San Antonio, TX from January 22-25, 2013. The annual event provides NBAA members an opportunity to meet the individuals who are directly responsible for the scheduling and dispatching of aircraft at flight departments of all sizes throughout the world. Meridian was one of 425 exhibitors that participated in the conference, and it was well-represented by eight associates from both its Charter and FBO businesses.
Betsy Wines, Meridian VP of Customer Service & Human Resources, was both a first-time attendee and a guest speaker for one of the panel sessions held on Friday, January 25. The session, entitled “Great Expectations…and the FBO”, was designed to be an interactive forum to answer questions about customer expectations of an FBO, including things like fuel pricing, customer service, and FBO amenities. Ms. Wines shared the panel with Michael Heilpern of Monterrey Jet Center and Curt Epstein of Aviation International News. She had this to say about the show, “As a first-time attendee, I found Schedulers and Dispatchers to be a far more intimate venue than NBAA (Annual Convention & Meeting), which gave me an opportunity to meet new people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. I also really liked the educational component.”
The conference, which was held in the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, drew more than 2,400 attendees and included over 30 education sessions that were developed to educate and inspire attendees. The Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference is designed to benefit all members of flight departments who share the responsibilities of scheduling and/or dispatching business aircraft, including dedicated schedulers and dispatchers and other influencers and decision makers – including chief pilots, directors and department managers. Exhibitors must be members of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) in good standing, and exhibits are limited to products and services directly involved with scheduling and dispatching business aircraft.