Van Nuys Hosts Aviation Conference

More than 2,000 people were expected to attend a regional forum of the National Business Aviation Association taking place Thursday at Van Nuys Airport. The attendees could visit booths by 145 exhibitors and see 25 aircraft that made up the display on the ramp outside of a hangar at the San Fernando Valley airfield. The NBAA, based in Washington, D.C., is the political advocacy group for the business aviation industry. The big issue the association is currently working on is the reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration. NBAA Chief Executive Ed Bolen was appreciative of Van Nuys making itself available for the forum to showcase the importance of business aviation in creating jobs and development for the economy. The U.S. Senate has passed in April a bill that will fund the FAA and now the House is taking up the same issue. It was important to get a bill passed before the current reauthorization extension expires on July 15, Bolen said. The version of the bill introduced in the House includes a major provision not in the Senate version – to privatize the air traffic control system. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has not yet taken up the bill in order to send it to the full membership, Bolen said. “The Senate has done its works but the House has failed to act,” he added. Van Nuys is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the U.S. Last year, there were 217,000 aircraft operations. Nearly 600 jet and turbine aircraft are based there. Jeffrey Daar, a member of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, in his welcoming remarks talked about living as a child near Van Nuys Airport where his father attended a flight school. “I grew up in this environment,” Daar said. “It’s a nice blend with what I do on the airport commission in setting policy.”