HAI attended and exhibited at the 27th Annual Aviation Issues Conference, sponsored by the American Association of Airport Executives, on Maui, Hawaii, from Jan. 6-10.

General aviation associations, as well as senior FAA, TSA, and other governmental agencies, participated on numerous discussion panels.

Ann Carroll, HAI’s vice president of government affairs, had the opportunity to speak with Alaska Senator Mark Begich to discuss legislative issues affecting helicopter operations in Alaska as well as in the lower 48 states. Sen. Begich was the keynote speaker at the conference and he spoke very frankly about the serious issues affecting the U.S. and the resulting impact upon aviation funding. Begich is the vice chair of the Senate general aviation caucus.

Ann Carroll also conducted a meeting with Hawaii air tour operators and ITT Exelis representatives from Washington DC who are working on NexGen development in the NAS. Hawaii operators provided in depth information to ITT concerning the unique weather conditions in Hawaii and the need for weather cameras to increase safety of operations.