July 29, 2014
The second annual Kansas Aviation Expo, slated for Sept. 22 to 26, will showcase business aviation as part of the event’s presentation on the importance of aviation to the state.
This year’s expo, the theme of which is “Where Dreams Come True,” will include a career fair and three-day air tour of the state, said Jesse Romo, director of the Kansas Department of Transportation’s aviation division. At each of the nine tour airports, presentations will highlight aviation’s diverse career opportunities to high school students. Business aviation is the primary focus at two of the tour’s destinations – Independence and Pittsburg – on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
“Centered in Wichita, the Air Capital of the World, the second annual Kansas Air Expo is important to the general aviation industry and NBAA Members, who will benefit from the exposure of Kansas youth to the diverse careers and opportunities it has to offer,” said Steve Hadley, director of NBAA’s regional programs. “The week of activities across the state highlight the many contributions general and business aviation makes to the communities they serve.”
Independence, as the birthplace of Cessna’s single-engine line and its Citation Mustang and Citation M2 business jets, is a logical tour stop. In Pittsburg, roughly a quarter of the aircraft based at Pittsburg’s Atkinson Municipal Airport (PTS) are business jets that serve the companies headquartered there. Names and Numbers, an NBAA Member that operates several jets and produces the Yellow Pages and phone books for 11 states, has agreed to participate in the stop’s presentations, and several other companies are expected to participate, Romo added. Review a profile of Names and Numbers in the November/December 2010 edition of Business Aviation Insider, NBAA’s bimonthly Member magazine.
KDOT is presenting the expo in partnership with the Kansas Commission on Aerospace Education, a clearinghouse for aviation education in the state. The tour begins and ends at Wichita’s Jabara Airport (AAO), home to the National Center for Aviation Training.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.