Schedulers & Dispatchers

Initial estimates put the attendance at this year's Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, hosted by the National Business Aviation Association, at just over 2,000. It seems like at least twice that many. It's been said before and should be stated again: Any airport, fixed base operator, or other aviation business that wants to market to the business aviation sector needs to be here. Just as the National Airports Conference, put on by the American Association of Airport Executives, is successful first and foremost because of its intimate environment, so too with Schedulers. NBAA has always limited the booth presentation to one 10x10 booth (though through the years some have had side-by-side booths) and basically tabletop displays. The idea, as NBAA's Kathleen Blouin explains, is for the little guys to have the same level of exposure as the big guys. Interestingly, the "big guys" love the environment. This is an event that makes it easy to touch customers. There's talk that next year NBAA will ease up on the booth restrictions, and Blouin says the association is looking into it. This is a jewel, and allowing more jewels to be added to the exhibit floor could cause the event to lose its luster. Of exhibitors I spoke with, all seem to be in agreement that they'd prefer a raising of the exhibit space rates versus grander booths. At Schedulers, that would just get in the way. * * * Some things in aviation might be considered history in the making. San Antonio's Stinson Airport is history. The city and TXDOT are investing heavily to revitalize Stinson and when completed it will be transformed into a business aviation-friendly airport - one that has the feel of landing in a time warp. Look for more in the March issue of AIRPORT BUSINESS. Thanks for reading.