C-SPAN interview with Marion C. Blakey on recent issues in the news, including air traffic control tower incidents, budgetary constraints and the Next Generation Air Transport System.
Upcoming Events
May 9-11
Product Support Conference
Clearwater Beach, Fla.
May 10-11
Property Management Committee
Reston, Va.
May 10-11
Communications Council
Arlington, Va.
May 12-13
AIA-Joint Services Technical Publications Workshop
Clearwater Beach, Fla.
May 14
Team America Rocketry Challenge Finals
The Plains, Va.
May 17-19
National Aerospace Standards Committee
Memphis, Tenn.
May 22-25
Industrial Security Committee
Scottsdale, Ariz.
May 23-26
Pb-Free Electronics Risk Management Consortium
Cordite, The Netherlands
May 25-26
Board of Governors and Membership Meeting
Williamsburg, Va.
By Marion C. Blakey This month offers the Aerospace Industries Association and its member companies a thrilling opportunity. On May 14, we will join more than 600 middle and high school students competing in the championship round of the 2011 Team America Rocketry Challenge at a "launch site" about 50 miles west of Washington.
U.S. aerospace is at a crossroads and requires a coherent national industrial strategy that encourages R&D and a commitment to improving education to continue on its path as the world's leader, according to Boeing's top commercial airplane executive. Jim Albaugh, executive vice president of The Boeing Company and president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, called for a coherent industrial strategy and other measures in an April 27 speech to the 10th Annual Aviation Summit of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The European Commission is conducting industry consultations to identify the challenges confronting the European security industry and determine appropriate policy measures to strengthen the industrial base, including establishment of limited-liability policies for homeland security technologies.
Aerospace and defense is among the least understood and appreciated of America's industrial sectors. Largely because of the politically charged, acronym-laden, arcane and sometimes classified world of government contracting within which it operates, its characteristics are much debated but seldom analyzed.
The Aerospace Industries Association has agreed with the Center for Aviation and Aerospace Leadership at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University–Worldwide to jointly produce a new publication for the aviation and aerospace industry.
You may have noticed a spate of news lately about hexavalent chromium. This substance occurs naturally in ores but can cause problems when humans are exposed to it, and its use has become increasingly regulated by environmental health and safety authorities around the globe.
AIA jointly held a briefing on Capitol Hill April 5 with the George Marshall Institute and the Space Transportation Association to educate Congress and the public on missile defense.
The top 100 teams in the 2011 Team America Rocketry Challenge will travel to Washington for the championship round on May 14 at Great Meadow in The Plains, Va. The finalists include the El Paso County, Colo. 4-H TARC Team, which posted this video on YouTube requesting financial assistance and subsequently was sponsored by Goodrich Corporation.
Last year, attendance at our Board of Governors Meetings reached its highest levels in our 91 year history, with more than 250 CEOs, senior executives, and government officials in attendance at each meeting. We are expecting an even greater turnout for this meeting.
The Aerospace Industries Association is upgrading its association management system to better serve its members. We've replaced our membership database with a more powerful and effective system.
Colorado's lieutenant governor helped launch a joint Aerospace Industries Association-National Defense Industries Association initiative to build stronger relationships with state and local advocates of science, technology, engineering and math education programs in mid-April.
Top officials from the White House, Defense Department, U.S. Air Force, Commerce Department, FAA and NASA met with AIA's Space Council for a day of discussions at the second annual Space Leadership Forum April 1.
