NBAA’s Piccione to Speak at Events in Chicago, Nebraska

January 10, 2013

The importance of business aviation to the national economy, and the challenges and opportunities facing the industry on Capitol Hill in 2013, will be among the central themes that NBAA’s Lisa Piccione will speak on at two upcoming regional events, one in the Chicago area and one in Nebraska.

This trip is just one of many that senior NBAA officials make each year to solicit input from Members nationwide and discuss the Association’s legislative and regulatory efforts in Washington, DC.

Piccione, NBAA’s senior vice president, government affairs, will share with Attendees her insights and “inside the Beltway” knowledge regarding potential legislation and regulation that could affect business aviation in the future.

“We’re going to give them a look at what to anticipate in 2013, and also remind them how important it is to touch base with their elected officials – particularly in Congress – about the value of business aviation and its significant economic and social benefits,” said Piccione.

Piccione will be the featured speaker at the Chicago Area Business Aviation Association’s (CABAA) annual meeting on Jan. 18 at the Wyndham Glenview Suites in Glenview, IL. In Nebraska, she will participate on the morning roundtable general session at the Nebraska Aviation Symposium on Jan. 24. The symposium, sponsored by the Nebraska Aviation Council, is an annual event for all aviation interests in the state and will be held at the Holiday Inn in Kearney, NE, from January 23 to 26.

Piccione said she is concerned about potential government spending cuts and the impact they could have on Federal Aviation Administration programs such as NextGen. The specter of additional taxes and user fees, such as the $100 per-flight user fee that has been floated over the past several years, is so ominous that “it is more essential than ever that state and local organizations work in partnership with NBAA and other national advocacy organizations to remind our elected officials about the severe repercussions that these measures would have on our industry,” she said.

Piccione said she is looking forward to meeting with NBAA Members and others in the business aviation community in both Chicago and Nebraska and getting their input on legislative issues that particularly concern them. In addition, Piccione said she will discuss the General Aviation Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, and how important it is that local groups encourage their legislators to join those caucuses if they haven’t already.

“The General Aviation Caucus is a highly effective tool for helping to educate our federal legislators about how essential business aviation is to the productivity and growth of our national economy, and about how many jobs it provides nationwide,” she said.