After two years of conducting its Ground Handling Safety Symposium (GHSS) virtually, the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) announced this year’s event will return to its traditional in-person format.

The sixth annual GHSS will be held Sept. 13-14 at the Erma C. Johnson Hadley Northwest Center of Excellence for Aviation, Transportation and Logistics at Tarrant County College (TCC) in Fort Worth, Texas.

Steve Berry, managing director of safety and training at NATA, said he anticipates the return to an in-person event will help foster the connections, camaraderie and collaboration that are hallmarks of the GHSS.

“Meeting virtually was, of course, a necessity over the last two years, and those virtual events were successful in helping us maintain the momentum of the GHSS,” Berry said. “But, there is nothing like being in person and the tremendous value that comes with face-to-face interaction and networking.”

According to Berry, the core mission of the GHSS has been to provide an open forum where industry professionals can meet to learn, exchange ideas and discuss both challenges and successes.

“However, the content presented each year is based on the current operational environment of our industry and designed to address the most pressing needs of our members,” he added.

This year’s agenda will focus on several topics.

Keith Clark of Phillips 66 Aviation will address misfuelling prevention and the Save-a-Life, Verify Fuel Type initiative. Clay Lacy Aviation’s Mark Foschetti will speak about towing ops.

A presentation on the connection between non-technical skill and safety will be conducted by Mike France from Magpie Human Systems. Kevin Honan and Jeffrey Goble of AviationManuals will address safety management systems (SMS) and change management.

James Evans of Sun Air Jets will offer a jet operator’s perspective on risk management while Laura Samm and Thomas Van Onselen of Signature Flight Support will offer insight on just culture. What’s more, the impact of employee perception on organizational performance will be explored by Dr. Dwan Bryant and Shannon Bryant of Tarrant County College.

“We’ve curated a dynamic, knowledgeable panel of safety-minded experts to engage our attendees in lively discussions and group activities,” Berry said. “We are looking forward to seeing a blend of new and familiar attendee and speaker faces.”

The sixth annual GHSS will be held for the first time in Texas. Berry said NATA has hosted several events at Tarrant County College as well as Alliance Fort-Worth Airport.

“With the current workforce challenges our industry is facing, we wanted to make the event as accessible as we could to as many of our members as possible,” Berry said.

“The DFW area has a large and vibrant general and business aviation presence and is local to many of our members,” Berry added. “Plus, with DFW being geographically central to the rest of the country and having two large hub airports, it is easily accessible for those who travel to get in and out. It was a natural choice.”

This year, NATA is offering sponsorship opportunities designed to provide companies visibility leading up to and throughout the event. NATA will also host a welcome reception at BigShots Golf, where attendees will have an opportunity to meet and network over food, drinks and friendly competition.

“Our attendees have consistently said how much they get out of the interactive nature of the event. The ability to connect and engage with peers and other safety professionals to understand that their challenges are not as uncommon as they may think is invaluable,” Berry said. “Equally as important is having a forum to learn from others about how they’ve addressed those challenges and being able to apply that knowledge to their own operations.”