Contact: Cassandra Bosco
Washington, DC, September 25, 2000 – The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) will promote professional development and certification at its 53rd Annual Meeting & Convention, October 10 to 12, 2000, in New Orleans. A session titled “NBAA Aviation Management Certification and Professional Development: A New Beginning for the 21st Century” will be held in conjunction with the Convention to explain the relationship between the Association’s established Professional Development Program (PDP) and its planned professional certification program.
Professional certification is defined as a process for granting recognition to individuals who meet predetermined qualifications and standards established by an independent, nongovernmental entity. NBAA’s planned certification program potentially could establish a system that recognizes the skills of those individuals most qualified for a management role in their departments. Another goal of the program is to establish a method to assess an individual’s knowledge through education, training and experience. The projected launch date for NBAA’s certification program is October 2003.
Prior to the Convention, NBAA will send a professional certification survey to more than 15,000 people in the business aviation community. The survey targets professionals who currently are working in corporate aviation management as well as those who ultimately plan to pursue a management position.
NBAA’s “Aviation Management Certification and Professional Development” session will be held on Tuesday, October 10, at 1:30 p.m. in Room 243 of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. In addition, the Association will host a PDP Booth during the Convention. The PDP Booth will be staffed by members of the NBAA Corporate Aviation Management Committee as well as current PDP educational providers, who will be available to answer questions about NBAA PDP and certification. The booth will be located in Lobby I of the Convention Center.
Additional PDP sessions to be held during the Convention include a presentation by Montreal’s Concordia University on Wednesday, October 11 in Convention Center Room 243 at 10:00 a.m. Concordia University, a PDP educational provider, offers an International Aviation M.B.A. to provide aviation industry managers with state-of-the-art, comprehensive management tools, principles and techniques. An additional PDP presentation hosted by several other PDP educational providers will be held at 1:30 p.m. in Convention Center Room 243, also on October 11.
To date, NBAA’s Professional Development Program has recognized 15 students who have completed the entire PDP curriculum. Currently, more than 200 students are enrolled in the program, and in the past two years, students have enrolled in more than 1,100 PDP courses total. Questions about NBAA PDP or certification should be directed to NBAA Senior Manager, Airmen & Commercial Services Jay Evans at (202) 783-9353 or jevans@nbaa.org.
NBAA represents the aviation interests of over 6,100 companies which own or operate general aviation aircraft as an aid to the conduct of their business, or are involved with business aviation. NBAA Member Companies earn annual revenues approaching $5 trillion — a number that is about half the gross domestic product — and employ more than 19 million people worldwide. The NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention is the world’s largest display of civil aviation products and services.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.