News

When Hurricane Matthew tore through the Caribbean earlier this month, it hit Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas as a Category 3 and 4 hurricane bringing pounding rain and powerful winds to the islands. After the storm passed, Fort Lauderdale, FL-based Tropic Ocean Airways was ready to respond. “We’re able to get into remote locations where others can’t, including landing seaplanes to deliver supplies to beaches if runways have been damaged,” said Rob Ceravolo, CEO and founder of Tropic Ocean Airways.

Now is the time for high schools across the country to register for the fifth annual GAMA/Build a Plane Aviation Design Challenge, a national competition that promotes students’ science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills and encourages young people to think about future careers in general aviation, including business aviation.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is the latest chief executive to publicly endorse business aviation, calling for October 2016 to be General Aviation Appreciation Month in the Mountain State. He was joined in his declaration by proclamations from six mayors from around the state of West Virginia.

To help bolster support for Dexter B. Florence Memorial Field (ADF) among
Arkadelphia, AR officials, airport Manager Michelle Anthony ordered No Plane No Gain advocacy resources – including lapel pins – to boost her case. “I hope wearing these pins [will] remind them that our airport, and other airports, are the diamonds and doors to our communities,” she said.

Heartland Aeronautical Experience (HAE) is developing a creative approach to exposing students to careers in business aviation – a mobile air traffic control tower classroom. “This venue will result in new student starts for the diminishing pilot population, as well as more applicants for air traffic controller positions,” according to HAE.

As CEO of Livermore, CA-based Tucknott Electric Co., Bob Tucknott has been working in electrical construction for about 50 years, and for the last 10-12 years, he’s also been working as a certified forensic litigation expert. This work takes him all over California – and business aviation makes it easier to get to where he needs to be.

Laurie Stein, of Stein’s Aircraft Services, wants local businesses to know that Wisconsin’s Kenosha Regional Airport (ENW) can help companies grow – and she’s enlisting the help of No Plane No Gain resources to make her case.

State and local officials across the county continue to recognize the value of general aviation, including business aviation to their regions. In September 2016, Maine Gov. Paul LePage released a letter calling general aviation “a vital strategic resource to the state of Maine and the resources they provide to the people of Maine, as well as our nation.”

The Connecticut Aero Tech School for Aviation Maintenance Technicians, a two-year, post-high school program that offers airframe and powerplant certificate training, had been slated for closure by the state, but was able to open this fall thanks for industry advocates, including NBAA representatives, who successfully fought to keep it open.

Humans aren’t the only ones who benefit from business aviation’s capabilities, as one operator recently stepped in to fly 34 stray dogs, rescued from Puerto Rico, to “forever homes” in the U.S. The flight was coordinated between The Sato Project and aircraft charter broker Paramount Business Jets, whose Dassault Falcon 20 was used in the rescue.