EBAA may have found some leads on how to improve the image of business aviation, CEO Fabio Gamba said at EBACE’s media lunch on Monday. Meanwhile, the U.S.-based General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) sees improvements in regulation, according to president and CEO Pete Bunce.
“Business aviation is a productivity tool, but we sometimes have a hard time passing along the message,” Gamba said. EBAA has recently hired survey specialist Grayling to measure the public perception the industry generates. The main result, in Gamba’s view, is that “the more people know about business aviation, the more they appreciate its value.” He concluded his association needs to reach out to a wider audience.
Another study (see story on page 22) has put numbers on the time savings business aviation enables. One fifth of the aircraft movements save five hours per trip, compared to airline travel. The remaining four fifths save an average 127 minutes, Gamba said.
On the regulatory front, GAMA’s Bunce reported “good things happening.” He alluded to the publication of the CS-23 notice of proposed amendment. “We see gains in proportionality,” as opposed to a one-size-fits-all approach, he added. Referring to SET-IMC (commercial passenger IFR flights with turboprop singles), Nicolas Chabbert, chairman of EGAMA, said the industry is “seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Bunce also reiterated the industry’s goal to cap carbon emissions at their 2020 level. He expressed concern, however, that the development of alternative fuels at a large scale has fallen behind.
And EBACE is staying put here in Geneva for the foreseeable future. Ed Bolen, NBAA president and CEO, said show organizers have signed an agreement for another five years at Palexpo.
