More Than 100 Airline Executives and Industry Leaders to Address Maintenance Strategies and Technologies at 11th Annual MRO Conference & Exhibition

NEW YORK, April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Aircraft safety and the costs of maintaining aircraft in an expanding aviation market -- issues that affect airlines, OEMs, suppliers and service providers in the MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) industry -- will be the focus of discussions and displays during the 11th annual MRO Conference & Exhibition/MRO Military, April 25-27 at the Phoenix, Arizona Civic Center. MRO 2006 is produced by Aviation Week and the Air Transport Association, in association with Overhaul & Maintenance magazine and Mercer Management.

The 2006 MRO event, the largest MRO-dedicated conference, combines both commercial and military segments to help maintenance executives in civil and military sectors identify and implement strategies to improve safety, turn-times, cut costs and increase profitability of their hangars and facilities. In 2005, the size of the commercial MRO industry was pegged at$38 billion, business aviation MRO at $5.9 billion, and military MRO at $53billion.

Keynote speakers at MRO and MRO Military include:

• Scott Kirby, EVP, USAirways

• Louis Chenevert, President & CEO, Pratt & Whitney

• VADM Justin McCarthy, Director of Material Readiness and Logistics, OPNAV, US Navy

• MG Arthur Morrill, US Air Force Materiel Command

• BG Stephen Mundt, Director Army Aviation Task Force, US Army

• Lt. General Donald Wetekam, Deputy Chief of Staff, Installation & Logistics, USAF

• David Pauling, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Material Readiness and Maintenance Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)

In addition to a sold out exhibition hall of 400+ MRO-related companies featuring the latest technologies and services, the conference features more than 100 presentations by top airline, MRO and military MRO officials,including:

• Tom Anderson, Sr VP, Technical Operations & Aircraft Programs, jetBlue Airways

• Brad Ballance, Senior Managing Director, e-Business, Air Transport Association

• Jim Ballough, Dir., FAA Standards Service, Federal Aviation Administration

• Kris Bauer, Sr VP Tech Ops, Northwest Airlines

• Steve Bence, VP Business Development, Goodrich Aviation Technical Services

• John Bendoraitis, VP, Base Maintenance Operations, Northwest Airlines

• Mark Blair, VP Air Operations, Engineering & Planning, FedEx

• Guy Borowski, Sr VP Tech Ops, Virgin America

• Matthew Bromberg, VP and General Manager, Pratt & Whitney Global Material Services

• Rimsky G. Buitrago, Chief Executive Officer, Coopesa Aircraft Maintenance

• Tim Canavan, Director, Operations, Delta Air Lines

• Kevin Casey, VP, Commercial Business Development, Pemco Aviation Group Inc.

• Lon Chaney, VP/General Manager, Goodyear facility, TIMCO Aviation Services Inc.

• Tony Charaf, Sr VP Tech Ops, Delta Air Lines

• Luis Alberto Dias Correa, VP Marketing and Sales, Varig Engineering and Maintenance

• Holger Dietsch, Senior Vice President, Aircraft Maintenance, Lufthansa Technik

• Christopher Doan, President & CEO, TeamSAI

• Cori Ferguson, Sr. Project Manager, Alaska Airlines

• Jake Frank, Supply Chain Management, Delta Air Lines

• August Wilhelm Henningsen, CEO, Lufthansa Technik

• Jim Henry, VP Technology Development, Standard Aero

• Hal Heule, Sr VP Technical Operations, US Airways

• John Hickey, Dir., Aircraft Certification Services, Federal Aviation Administration

• Troy Jonas, VP and General Manager, Bombardier Aerospace Aircraft Service Centers