Air Travel Disruption

As I wing my way from Minneapolis to Phoenix to attend the MRO Americas 2010, I wonder what the impact of the recent Iceland volcano will have on the attendance. This aviation industry trade show attracts airline and aviation maintenance exhibitors and industry professionals from all over the world. Early indications are that many Europeans who planned to attend may not be able to because of the airline travel disruption situation. We’ve all seen and read the news over the last week regarding the travel disruptions throughout Europe and how they have impacted the world. I spent many years working in the airline industry, and looking back it seems like every few years (especially over the last 10 years or more) some event would take place that impacted the airline industry. The world in which we live and the industry in which we work has little in the way of borders. Most businesses today depend on some sort of successful execution of processes – and many of these processes are on a global scale. Moving goods and people is our part of these global processes. Aviation is a very global business and it depends on people doing business and shipping goods around the country and the world. As of Wednesday there was news that the flight disruption situation throughout large areas of Europe caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland may be subsiding and some level of flying began. AMT posted an article from the Associated Press on AMTOnline.com Wednesday which stated this disruption would have billions of dollars of negative impact to the airline industry around the world. Again, just like every few years, another event takes place which impacts some segment of the aviation industry and the world in a negative way. Thanks for reading, Ron