In the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, the NBAA canceled its 54th annual convention in New Orleans last month “to redirect the association’s resources toward national recovery and aid to the victims and their families,” president Jack Olcott said in a statement issued on September 12. This is the first time in its history that NBAA has had to cancel an annual convention.
The three-day event promised to be a record-setting event, with more than 1,070 exhibitors occupying more than 5,000 booths. Static-display reservations at New Orleans Lakefront Airport were at a record level also, with more than 140 aircraft expected. NBAA was to introduce a new report from Andersen Consulting that relates utilization of business aircraft to increased shareholder value and describes how companies can and do use the Andersen approach to identify the benefits of business aviation. Advanced registration was also ahead of last year. Convention officials anticipated between 25,000 and 30,000 individuals would have been in New Orleans September 18 to 20.
