In the absence of this year’s NBAA show that was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, AIN is publishing remembrances of past conventions from captains of the industry to you, our readers. The responses highlight how the annual event resonates throughout the industry. To read more, go to the NBAA Memories landing page.
Larry Flynn, president of Gulfstream Aerospace (retired)
The first NBAA convention I attended was held in Dallas, Texas, in 1983 while I was working for Combs-Gates, a bygone FBO chain based in Denver. Since then, I have attended 35 of the last 37 conventions. My feet hurt just thinking about it!
Each convention had its memorable moments…too many to reminisce about now. But perhaps the most lasting memory of the NBAA conventions is that I always looked forward to attending from both a business and a personal standpoint. For business, each convention proved to be very successful by providing the opportunity to meet with many customers, prospects, and suppliers very efficiently: all in one place, and all in one week. And personally, they gave me the opportunity to catch up with the many industry friends I made over the decades.
The other thing that strikes me about my years of attending the NBAA conventions is the hundreds of people that I met, many for the first time, from diverse backgrounds and with a shared passion for aviation, whom I got to know as a result of attending those 35 conventions. Folks who started as business associates, and over the years became friends. And not just people from the United States, but from all over the world. Collectively, they helped form my wealth of knowledge and perspective about the business aviation industry.
There are too many NBAA convention stories to tell in this article, and some stories I cannot tell…the ones that go something like “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!” In fact, the next time we all gather will be in Las Vegas next year…what a coincidence (LOL!!).
