A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

HAI president Matt Zuccaro gave an upbeat assessment of the helicopter industry on the eve of Heli-Expo 2014. “Air tours are doing well, corporate operations have re-established themselves and offshore oil and gas work is very busy right now, so it’s a pretty positive picture,” he said. Nonetheless, the industry faces challenges including a potential shortage of pilots and mechanics.
“The younger generation has so many options,” said Zuccaro. “We’re starting a sales and marketing campaign to show them being a pilot or a mechanic is a good career path.” 
Of more immediate concern are “unwarranted” <a href="mailto:http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ainalerts/2014-01-21/la-helo-noise-rules-tucked-federal-spending-bill">regulations being driven by political grandstanding</a> that might actually impinge on safety, Zuccaro said. “It’s at the point right now where regulations mandating [helicopter] routes and altitudes have become the forum of elected officials. They’re not even asking the FAA anymore; they’re telling them, ‘We want you to put in regulations on routes and altitudes’ based on [constituents’] complaints.”
Zuccaro said HAI and its members respect people’s concerns, but added, “Legislators are making regulatory decisions without any study of what the realignment would mean. It’s not being done for safety or for airspace efficiency. It’s being done for a small group of people who have gotten the ears of elected officials.”

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