The 59th Annual Wisconsin Aviation Conference will be held May 5-7 at the Patriot Center in Wausau-Rothschild. The conference is geared towards airport managers, fixed base operators and support professionals in airport development.
Speakers will include FAA Regional Administrator Barry Cooper, Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb, Wisconsin Aeronautics Director David Greene and other notable industry and government leaders.
Topics will include strategic planning at airports; wildlife hazards and how wildlife management has become a cost of doing business at Wisconsin airports; aviation “apps: new technology for the airfield and cockpit; the soon-to-come NEXTGEN; the private investment, development and ownership of general aviation hangars; NOTAM technology: Wisconsin Aerospace Consortium; flying hamburger social; general aviation airports, operating on a shoestring – the financial “squeeze” and an uncertain future; the forecast for airline service at Wisconsin airports; and an update on the Sales Tax Exemption Legislation for fixed base operators and other aeronautical entities.
Bryan Budds, Manager of the AOPA Great Lakes Region, and Jeff Baum, President of Wisconsin Aviation, Inc. and a member of the Wisconsin Aviation Trades Association (WATA) and Wisconsin Business Aviation Association (WBAA), will discuss the sales tax exemption legislation on aircraft parts, maintenance, and labor in which the Wisconsin aviation industry lobbied hard for.
Jim Rankin, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation, will be the luncheon speaker on Wednesday, May 7, 2014, and will discuss the “pilot shortage.”
Special events will feature a welcome reception, awards luncheon, banquet, and golf and sporting clays shooting tournaments.
For additional information on the Wisconsin Aviation Conference, refer to www.wiama.org, or contact Bob O’Brien with the Wisconsin Airport Management Association (WAMA) at bob@thewisconsinriver.com or call 815-757-2869.
The Wisconsin Aviation Conference is sponsored by the Wisconsin Airport Management Association (WAMA), Wisconsin Aviation Trades Association (WATA), and Wisconsin Business Aviation Association (WBAA).