NBAA president Jack Olcott opened this year's convention with upbeat remarks about the state of business aviation and its potential for future growth, forecasting "CAVU (ceiling and visibility unlimited) for business aviation."

Olcott stressed that NBAA's agenda is "focused on traditional flight departments," rather than fractional ownership. To that end, the organization recently "reshaped its bylaws to ensure that governance stays with traditional flight departments."

According to Olcott, NBAA's biennial opinion poll showed that members want the organization to concentrate its efforts on a fairly constant set of issues, including:

• Promoting safety. First and foremost, the survey says, is a commitment by NBAA and its members to a safety culture.
  
• Lobbying against increased government regulation.
  
• Lobbying against airport or airways user fees.
  
• Finding trained, competent maintenance personnel.
  
• Gaining greater government acceptance of business aviation

Addressing the crowd, Olcott also pointed to the group's accomplishments in other areas such as: professional development programs, member scholarships, the nbaa.org web site, the group's new AvKids.com web site for children, an increasing number of publications and a new video about crew fatigue entitled "Don't Fall Asleep On the Job."NBAA polls show that fatigue and flight and duty time rules are a growing concern of members.

FAA administrator Jane Garvey, the opening session's keynote speaker, lauded the business aviation community's "high degree of professionalism and high standards" for maintaining the industry's strong safety record.

Saying there are "no easy answers" to the question of how fractional operators should be regulated, Garvey said she hopes to bring about a quick resolution to the question with the help of a rulemaking advisory committee. That committee has until December 31 of this year to conclude its discussions and is expected to deliver it recommendations by mid-January. NBAA's recent poll showed that the majority of those responding felt fractionals should be governed by FAR part 135, rather than FAR part 91 under which fractional operations currently fall.

On the issue of safety, Garvey noted that it is "at the heart and soul of what we do." She added that modernization of the ATC system is continuing on schedule, as are plans for free flight. Harmonization talks, incorporating the most stringent regulations of U.S. and European operators, are also progressing.

Garvey's anecdote about her Y2K plans provided the session's comic relief when she announced that she will be airborne for the passing of the new year to demonstrate her confidence in the FAA's Y2K preparations. When a Boston Globe reporter asked her husband if he planned to accompany her, he responded "no, but I'll be happy to drive her to the airport."

Also new at this convention is a report entitled "Business Aircraft Utilization Strategies," a byproduct of the recent J.D. Power and Associates survey of business aircraft operators.
Honorees in the opening session included Longwood Industries, NBAA's 6,000th member, and the Xerox flight department for its long-term contributions to the Corporate Angel Network (CAN), which matches corporate flight departments with seriously ill people requiring transportation for medical treatment.

Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who was also scheduled to speak at the opening session, cancelled his appearance at the last minute due to illness, leaving administrator Garvey to fill his time by fielding questions from the audience.

Following the speeches, Garvey, Olcott and the NBAA Board of Directors participated in a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the convention.