NBAA has cancelled all events and meetings scheduled to place before 1 July. President and CEO Ed Bolen says: “As with all NBAA events, we view the health, safety and security of our partners, members and participants as our foremost concern, and it will remain our guiding principle. We are working to explore opportunities to provide a virtual platform to share some of the valuable content from those gatherings, and we will provide details as soon as they are available.”

Its recent 31st Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference put the Coronavirus challenge, a particular concern for a highly mobile industry, to the fore. In the opening keynote address, Mayo Clinic chair, preventative, occupational and aerospace medicine Dr Clayton Cowl provided an update on the rapidly evolving situation along with practical tips for reducing community transmission of the virus, and Fireside Partners CEO Don Chupp offered advice regarding communications and business planning in light of the situation.

More than 90 per cent of confirmed exhibitors were on hand to share their perspectives. “We've got fixed-base operators from all over the country here exhibiting with us,” said Phillips 66 Aviation associate brand director Meghan Allen, and Million Air CEO Roger Woolsey noted: “Sometimes the only time we get that face-to-face interaction with those dispatchers who are the real decision makers is right here at Schedulers & Dispatchers.”

New to the show was a New Products Showcase, introducing 13 products and services to the business aviation marketplace. NBAA senior manager of certification Tyler Austin noted: “It not only offered these new entrants an opportunity to build relationships with customers, it underscored the innovative spirit characteristic of business aviation.”

Despite the event's momentum, organisers concluded the full SDC program one day early. Bolen thanked all SDC participants for their support and said: “We look forward to welcoming them back for an even better conference in 2021.”