NATA Aviation Business and Legislative Conference Offers Exceptional Access to Congressional Leadership
Alexandria, VA, March 7, 2014 – The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) convened its annual Aviation Business & Legislative (ABLC) Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The conference featured key sessions with Executive and Legislative decision-makers and also included a highly successful Congressional Reception at the U.S. Capitol Building and Congressional Fly-In session at the Capitol Visitor Center.
“NATA’s 2014 Aviation Business & Legislative Conference was well attended, provided unmatched access for our members to their congressional leaders and offered a world-class venue to provide updates on the latest regulatory and legislative information specific to our members’ businesses,” said NATA President and CEO Thomas L. Hendricks.
Commenting on the Aviation Business and Legislative Conference, Suran Wijayawardana, President of ACP Jets, said, “NATA’s ABLC is an invaluable experience for today’s aviation business leadership to get updated on potential regulatory impact on their businesses. More importantly, it allows attendees to be a part of the process.”
The event kicked off with the annual NATA Industry Excellence Awards Dinner and Presentation. Top honors went to The Honorable Sam Graves (R-MO) and Marian Epps, Chief Financial Officer of Epps Aviation with the William A. “Bill” Ong Memorial award and the Distinguished Service Award respectively.
Following a very well attended Congressional Reception on Tuesday evening at the Rayburn House Office Building, NATA members participated in a Congressional “Fly-In” on the final day of the event at the U.S. Capitol. The Fly-In session included key Members of Congress who demonstrated a strong understanding of the business environment and our industry’s issues. They provided extensive comments on the recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, the detrimental impact of user fees on aviation, the importance of general aviation to communities throughout the United States and the necessity for our industry to make our issues clear before the Reauthorization process takes place next year. Those attending were:
- The Honorable John Barrow (D-GA), U.S. House of Representatives; Co-Chairman, House General Aviation Caucus
- The Honorable Sam Graves (R-MO), U.S. House of Representatives; Chairman, House Committee on Small Business; Co-Chairman, House General Aviation Caucus
- The Honorable Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), U.S. House of Representatives; Chairman, Subcommittee on Aviation, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; Member, House General Aviation Caucus
- The Honorable Jerry Moran (R-KS), U.S. Senate; Member, Senate Committee on Appropriations; Member, Senate General Aviation Caucus
- The Honorable Harold Rogers (R-KY), U.S. House of Representatives; Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations; Member, House General Aviation Caucus
“We were also pleased to make several exciting announcements this week, including our new Board of Directors members and leadership and the rollout of the Known Crewmember® program for the Part 135 and 125 communities through NATA Compliance Services (NATACS). NATACS is reporting a very high level of interest in the Known Crewmember® program since the announcement was made on Tuesday morning,” added Hendricks.
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NATA, the voice of aviation business, is the public policy group representing the interests of aviation businesses before Congress and the federal agencies. For more information about NATA, please visit www.nata.aero, www.twitter.com/nataaero or www.facebook.com/nataaero.