Contacts: Dan Hubbard, (202) 783-9360, dhubbard@nbaa.org
Patrick Dunne, (202) 783-9263, pdunne@nbaa.org
Washington, DC, September 13, 2010 – The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) today announced that the 2010 Annual Meeting & Convention will include an event to recognize the business aviation community for its heroic response to the earthquake that ravaged the island nation of Haiti earlier this year. Anyone who participated in the Haiti relief effort in any way is invited to attend the event.
“The business aviation community’s response to the Haiti crisis represents the best in all of us,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen in announcing the recognition event. “As the world began to understand the magnitude of the tragedy, our industry mobilized. Almost immediately, airplanes and aviation expertise were volunteered, supplies were donated, ramp and hangar space was made available, fuel discounts were offered, and charts were provided. As a result of this remarkable outpouring of time, expertise and resources, countless lives were not only touched but in many cases saved. We want to recognize this historic airlift with our event.”
The tribute to those involved in the Haiti relief effort will take place as part of a first-ever General Session on the Convention’s second day, Wednesday, October 20, at 11:00 a.m. ET. Both the new second-day session and the Convention’s traditional Opening General Session will take place on the event’s Exhibit floor. The Haiti tribute will include a video telling the story of the industry’s response to the Haiti crisis, as told through the first-hand perspectives of several individuals who were directly involved in the effort.
In the weeks following the Haiti disaster, the all-volunteer industry airlift flew more than 800 flights, carrying 3,800 passengers and more than 1.4 million pounds of supplies, including doctors and other first responders, lifesaving food, water and medical equipment, to remote areas unreachable by road or larger aircraft from the major airport at Port au Prince. The desperately ill and injured were evacuated to mainland U.S. hospitals on the return flights.
Equally important, the informal network created to match up business aviation donors with groups needing transport also served to link together varied humanitarian efforts of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), medical groups, and others in the process creating a vital network that speeded delivery of lifesaving help.
The industry’s response to the Haiti crisis was recognized earlier this year in a joint House-Senate resolution that noted “business aircraft alone conducted more than 700 flights, transporting 3,500 passengers, and over 1,000,000 pounds of cargo and supplies.”
“NBAA is enormously grateful to everyone in business aviation who was willing to help in the relief effort, and we look forward to expressing our gratitude in a very meaningful way directly from the floor of the Convention,” Bolen concluded.
For more information about business aviation’s role in Haiti relief efforts, visit http://www.nbaa.org/hati.
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Founded in 1947 and based in Washington, DC, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is the leading organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful. The Association represents more than 8,000 companies and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention, the world’s largest civil aviation trade show. Learn more about NBAA at www.nbaa.org.
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International Business Aviation Council Ltd.