The Duncan Download Blog: Business Aviation Advice & Observations

In 1966, NBAA was the first industry association Duncan Aviation joined. Our first NBAA booth was a purple foam structure in a 20 x 20 space, where 10 team members greeted attendees and explained who Duncan Aviation was.

That was just the beginning.

For nearly 49 years, Duncan Aviation has participated in the annual NBAA Convention and Exhibition. No longer relatively unknown, we are one of the first places to stop for many convention attendees. But our participation and influence at NBAA goes well beyond the convention hall.

For a total of 21 years, Duncan Aviation has maintained a presence on the NBAA Associate Member Advisory Council (AMAC), beginning with Robert Duncan in 1983. As members, he, Duncan Aviation Chairman Todd Duncan and President Aaron Hilkemann contributed to council discussions and activities to identify and improve communications among membership segments. Each has served or is currently serving in a leadership position. Aaron also served a two-year term as council chairman. In these roles, each became associate member advisors to the NBAA board.

Jeannine Falter, vice president of business development, is a five-year member of the NBAA Corporate Aviation Management Committee (CAMC), which provides programs and tools to help aviation managers meet business objectives.

She served two years as co-chair of the committee's annual NBAA Leadership Conference. This leadership conference is the only industry event of its kind, where business aviation managers and executives gather to focus on sharpening leadership and professional skills, networking and sharing ideas.

"The NBAA Leadership Conference is a great opportunity for industry leaders to be exposed to ideas and thought-leaders that they otherwise may not have access to," says Jeannine.

She was also a current member of the NBAA Maintenance Management Committee, whose purpose is to address the high-level, strategic issues pertinent to maintenance operations. This group is currently working on a long-term project to align the professional standing of aviation technicians with current and future technology by updating the level of education, training and expertise.

To find out more about our long histories with other industry alphabet associations, read the Spring 2015 Duncan Debrief.

In The Trenches

Business aviation association governing boards work to benefit our industry as a whole, bringing about long-term changes and future growth. But oftentimes, it’s in the trenches of the subcommittees and regional events where the day-to-day issues that impact business aviation are addressed. Many of Duncan Aviation’s tech reps, department leaders, regional managers and sales representatives meet many times a year in these industry subcommittees.