Paris Show Organizers Set Sights On Youth
The 2011 Paris Air Show drew 151,000 trade visitors, and organizers expect this year’s show to grow by 4 to 5 percent. (Photo: David McIntosh)
The 2011 Paris Air Show drew 151,000 trade visitors, and organizers expect this year’s show to grow by 4 to 5 percent. (Photo: David McIntosh)

While at first glance the 2013 Paris Air Show might look much the same as previous editions, it promises new wrinkles for attendees. This time around, the biennial gathering at Le Bourget Airport will focus on attracting young people into the aerospace workforce and on business-to-business opportunities, said the show’s new chairman and CEO, Emeric d’Arcimoles. Speaking at a show organizers’ news conference last Wednesday in Washington, D.C., d’Arcimoles lamented a seeming lack of interest in aerospace by young people. “We are facing a lack of technicians, engineers, workers and their educations, of course,” he said. In reaction, companies have decided to “spend a lot of money to convince the young generation to come and work for our industry.”