Forum plans
One of the nation’s oldest aviation associations is bringing its annual convention to Oklahoma City for a fourth time.
And one of the speakers attendees to the National Association of State Aviation Officials’ 87th convention will hear from is U.S. Rep. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, who is expected to talk to them on Sunday about Oklahoma’s aviation industry.
They also will be officially welcomed to the event Monday by Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin.
The event runs through Wednesday at the Skirvin Hilton, 1 Park Ave.
Topics for this year’s convention include discussions about the outlook for the nation’s aviation industry, unmanned aerial systems and government funding sources, plus educational related workshops, roundtable discussions and the organization’s annual business meeting.
The theme of this year’s convention is “Oklahoma — Aircraft Repair Capital of the World.”
The convention comes before an aviation forum planned in Oklahoma City on Oct. 30. Jim Bridenstine, a former Oklahoma congressman who is the administrator at NASA, will be its featured speaker, organizers have said.
State agency involved
The Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission helped plan and organize the association’s convention that begins Sunday.
Victor Bird, the commission’s director, said he’s been itching to host an annual meet for the association in Oklahoma since serving as its chairman in 2010.
“Aviation has a rich heritage in Oklahoma,” Bird stated in a news release about the convention, adding that Oklahoma was one of the association’s 16 founding states in 1931.
“Clyde Cessna started in Oklahoma. Wiley Post was the first pilot to fly solo around the world and he invented the space suit. Two of the first commercial airlines were founded here in the 1930s.
“Business aviation began here with oilmen like Frank Phillips hiring pilots like Post to fly them to their oil fields. Oklahoma has produced more astronauts than any other state, among them are Gordon Cooper and Tom Stafford. Parts for every space program have been manufactured in Oklahoma,” Bird said.
He also noted Oklahoma is a significant center within the aviation field for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft, holding up the Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base, the American Airlines maintenance center in Tulsa and the AAR Aircraft Services center at Will Rogers World Airports as examples.
Beyond that, he noted military and civilian aviation activities at the 108 airports across the Oklahoma airport system support more than 400 onsite businesses and 870 off-airport businesses that produce nearly $44 billion in annual economic activity.
Bird stated the industry is Oklahoma’s second largest, supporting 206,000 jobs that generate an annual payroll of $11.7 billion.
The association routinely works with aviation officials to cover best practice planning and programming activities to create safer, more efficient airports and to address workforce challenges.
Topics it routinely examines include federal funding to support the nation’s aviation system, zoning practices to protect airports and airspace, air traffic management and others.
Oklahoma previously has hosted the national convention three times, in 1944, 1967 and in 1997.
Organizers said they expect more than 275 people to attend who are government officials from all 50 states and Guam and Puerto Rico and are involved in overseeing airport systems and operations.
Like the convention, the Oklahoma Aerospace Forum also will be held at the Skirvin Hilton in Oklahoma City.
Administrator Jim Bridenstine of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is scheduled to provide the forum’s keynote address, titled, “The State of Aerospace Today.”
Organizers bill the forum as an opportunity for Oklahoma aerospace executives and senior managers to meet and discuss the current state of aerospace in Oklahoma, learn about new state efforts to support the aerospace industry and to network with one another.
Forum topics will include the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft in Oklahoma, workforce development, changing regulatory environments and the aviation industry’s future.
U.S. Rep. Russell also will address attendees with some closing summary remarks at the forum’s conclusion, organizers said.