This year’s NBAA annual convention will mark the debut of the organization’s Small Operator Summit, which will be held on October 15, the day before the show opens in Orlando, Florida. According to NBAA, the interactive symposium will focus on issues facing operators with one or two aircraft.

Session topics in the 3.5-hour event at the Orange County Convention Center will include “Do You Like My Hat?”, a discussion on the many roles played by someone managing a flight department, and “Scaling the SMS Mountain,” which will examine how small flight departments can learn to properly address safety issues on a practical basis. Other subjects include making maintenance decisions and hiring safe, reliable contract pilots. Speakers will devote half their time to presentation, and the other half to interacting with the audience.

“While NBAA considers a 'small operator' to be two airplanes or less, it doesn’t matter if those are two piston planes or large-cabin jets,” said Brian Koester, NBAA’s manager of operations. “We welcome any operator who considers themselves to be a small operator to attend this new symposium.” He added that 80 percent of the organization’s operating members would fall into that class. “We are excited to provide this critical information to such a wide segment of the NBAA operating membership.”