NBAA Preview: 56th bizav show will be bellwether event
In those first 100 years, the human race soared from Kill Devil Hills, N.C., to the moon and back, and the corporate aircraft eventually became the boardro

In those first 100 years, the human race soared from Kill Devil Hills, N.C., to the moon and back, and the corporate aircraft eventually became the boardroom and the office. But as NBAA gathers in central Florida for the second year in a row–and just two years removed from 9/11– security and access to airports and airspace have taken on new urgency and meaning.

Meanwhile, the light at the end of the economic tunnel continues to be elusive, with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association reporting that total industry billings fell 14.4 percent last year from an all-time high of $13.9 billion to $11.9 billion. Shipments of GA airplanes dropped from 2,994 in 2001 to 2,539 last year. “This may not be the deepest trough in modern times,” said then-GAMA chairman Bill Boisture in February, “but it is certainly one of the longest.”