Professional Pilot, March 2018

EVENT COVERAGE Schedulers Dispatchers 2018 Long Beach hosts record breaking NBAA S D show Feb 6 9 By Brent Bundy Phoenix Police Officer Pilot AS350 AW119 Cessna 210 182 172 T he Long Beach CA Convention Center was this years choice for the 2018 NBAA Schedulers Dispatchers annual gathering Breaking records once again over 2900 attendees 150 of them first timers perused the more than 550 exhibitor booths on the soldout convention hall floor during the 4 day event running Feb 6 9 Schedulers Dispatchers Chairwoman Robyn Carpenter welcomed everyone at the opening day general session highlighting the conference theme of Pursue Your Passion NBAA Pres CEO Ed Bolen provided business aviation world updates 30 PROFESSIONAL PILOT March 2018 particularly on the reignited topic of attempts to privatize the US air traffic control system Bolen also presented the 10th annual S D Outstanding Achievement Leadership Award to Lisa Swartzwelder L Brands director of shuttle operations and flight administration After S D Monetary Training Award Scholarships were announced 4 time Winter Olympian Ruben Gonzalez gave an exciting presentation on chasing your dreams and never quitting The 2nd day general session featured key note speaker Captain Shaesta Waiz the first female civilian pilot from Afghanistan She recently became the youngest woman to complete an around the world solo flight in a single engine plane a Beechcraft Bonanza She spoke about the complexities of planning the trip and the challenges she faced along the way In addition to the host of networking opportunities available on the show floor there were also over 30 educational sessions offered covering a variety of areas including weather planning mission scheduling international operations and many more Once again this year the S D Committee demonstrated their commitment to those in need through their Pay It Forward clothing donation drive Show goers offered up several racks and boxes full of business attire that will be distributed to local charities with the hope of helping to kick start the careers of future business aviation professionals With another highly successful event in the books the 30th anniversary of the S D Conference will be held next Jan 29 Feb 1 in San Antonio TX The Signature Flight Support team was on hand to welcome show goers and present the global services they offer The global Jet Aviation group was well represented by team members from several of their locations Meeting clients at their exhibit were L R Mktg Comm San Juan Frances Ryan Mgr PR Events Patricia McNamee SVP Gen Mgr Don Haloburdo Mktg Mgr FBO Staffing Sonia Perrone Rgnl Sales Dir Michael Sylvester Rgnl Dir FBO Svcs SE Region Nuno Da Silva Sales Dir Nazee Sajedi and Cust Svc Mgr San Juan Noemi Corporan S D Chairwoman Robyn Carpenter L and NBAA Pres CEO Ed Bolen present L Brands Dir of Shuttle Ops Flt Admin Lisa Swartzwelder with the Outstanding Achievement Leadership Award From Mexicos Manny Aviation Services were L R Manuel Romero Vargas María José Lardizábal Arellano and Stacy Stewart Photos by Brent Bundy