NBAA's Schedulers & Dispatchers Celebrates Three Decades
Begun in 1989, the annual conference has expanded from its humble origins in Montvale, N.J., to setting records in San Antonio, Texas.
The show floor at SDC 2019 set new records for the conference, both in its nearly 600 exhibitors, and in the area of exhibit space at San Antonio's Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. (Photo: Robb Williamson (Williamson Images), courtesy of NBAA).
The show floor at SDC 2019 set new records for the conference, both in its nearly 600 exhibitors, and in the area of exhibit space at San Antonio's Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. (Photo: Robb Williamson (Williamson Images), courtesy of NBAA).

In 1987, corporate flight department members Robert Weinwurzel and Fred Towers had the brainstorm to develop a group within NBAA that dealt primarily with the needs of the flight scheduler and dispatcher community. The pair repeatedly pitched the idea to the organization, which eventually ran with it and elevated it to full committee status. The first Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference (SDC), which attracted less than 100 attendees and a handful of exhibitors to a hotel in Montvale, New Jersey, took place in 1989.