Last week, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) held its annual Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA2013), the can’t-miss business aviation event of the year and the sixth largest tradeshow in the U.S. The venue provides key operators and industry leaders the opportunity to meet under one roof to conduct business, make buying decisions and set the stage for business aviation activity for the year ahead. Attendees, the decision makers in the industry, spend time on the exhibit floor, meeting and interacting with exhibitors and assessing aircraft and products for future purchases for their companies.
Meridian was proud to participate in this annual event with twelve company representatives, and a 400 sq. ft. exhibit located in the North Hall at Booth #N3110. Meridian participants came from all facets of the company, including the FBO (Meridian Teterboro), Charter (Meridian Air Charter), Maintenance (Meridian Jet Center), and Management (Meridian Aircraft Management). Company representatives were able to meet with longtime friends and customers, while also introducing themselves to new prospects with the hope of doing business together in the near future. Meridian was able to generate a lot of traffic through its booth with incentives like its signature t-shirts promoting its national presence in diverse geographies, including TEB, HWD, and APA. Visitors to the booth were also challenged to ‘Guess the Airport’ and ‘Guess the Part’. Two lucky winners went home with a Meridian leather garment bag. Congratulations to Eric Sanchez, Director of Sales at Southern Jet, for guessing MHT as the correct airport, and to Geoff Plesa, Managing Director at Pacific Air Resources, for guessing a coffee warmer gasket as the correct part!
The 2013 NBAA Convention covered three days, from Tuesday, October 22 through Thursday, October 24, and was held at two locations; the Las Vegas Convention Center and Henderson Executive Airport. According to NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, the annual event was a “resounding success”. He states, “The energy and enthusiasm among exhibitors and attendees has demonstrated once again the tremendous value the industry continues to place on this event as a premier national and international business aviation venue.” The three-day conference drew 25,425 attendees from all 50 U.S. states and more than 90 countries, with 1,100 exhibitors participating, and 95 total aircraft – 83 on static display at Henderson Executive Airport and 12 in the new indoor display at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
A number of education sessions were held throughout the week, many of which focused on emerging trends. These included advanced in-cockpit display and information technologies, the continued proliferation of iPads in aircraft cockpits and the latest information for companies using business aircraft. A careers in business aviation day was held on Thursday for Las Vegas-area middle school, high school and college students. “The business aviation community’s resilience and the resourcefulness was on display this year as much as ever,” Bolen said. “We are delighted by the excitement that surrounded this year’s convention, and we are already looking forward to next year’s show in Orlando, Florida, from October 21 to 23, 2014.”