Ten days after the Dow dropped 787 points in a week, one month from the presidential election, five months before extension of the FAA’s funding expires again and 14 months until a scheduled game-changing UN meeting on the environment, the 61st NBAA Annual Meeting and Convention opened yesterday with the business aviation industry booming, but with attendees looking over their shoulders as they wait apprehensively for the boom to fall.
The news is not all bad, of course. Industry forecasts predict a record number of deliveries this year and maybe even next year, with a slight trough expected in 2010. But at the media breakfast before the Opening General Session, Pete Bunce, president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, said his members are concerned about the credit crunch and are taking a wait-and-see attitude. “Nobody knows quite yet what is happening and companies are now looking for solutions to protect themselves in the future,” he said.
