Workforce challenges and threats surrounding illegal charter remain top issues in the National Air Transportation Association’s series of 2018 industry town hall meetings, the association said. The organization late last week held the fifth in its 2018 series at Epps Aviation in Atlanta.

That event was the first chance for NATA members to greet Gary Dempsey as their new president. In addition to Dempsey, NATA executive v-p Tim Obitts, airport officials, and business aviation professionals from the Atlanta region participated. “A top priority of the association is to visit with members throughout the country and hear directly about their pain points and successes,” Dempsey said.

Discussions surrounding workforce challenges and illegal charter have been “recurring themes” at the events, Obitts said. “The forums have aided us in developing action plans for our Illegal Charter Task Force, as well as allowing us to address other charter-related issues such as federal excise taxes and FSDO relationships.”

NATA is closing out the forums with three more events: two specific to air charter and a third that is an industry town hall. The air charter forums will be held October 30 at Wings Aviation in Houston and November 1 at Solairus Aviation in San Jose, California. Meanwhile, the final town hall meeting will be held November 15 at Banyan Air Services in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.