Following a show floor reception last night at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina, NBAA’s Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference held its opening session this morning. While this year’s theme of resiliency was chosen long before the rise of COVID-19, the irony of that choice was not lost on Schedulers & Dispatchers Committee co-chair Stephen Clark, who acknowledged the resulting diminished attendance at the show but reiterated the committee’s goal to put on a world-class educational program.

NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, attending his 15th SDC, ceded much of the time for his usual address to two guest speakers. Dr. Clayton Cowl, chairman of the Mayo Clinic’s preventive, occupational and aerospace medicine department, addressed the audience of several hundred show-goers and recapped the rise and spread of coronavirus in basic terms, noting that while most cases are mild, 20 percent are considered severe. He was encouraged by the declining trend in new cases in China, which was the epicenter.

With people able to view online tote boards showing the current number of infections, Don Chupp, president and CEO of emergency response coordinator Fireside Partners, warned against “compressive stress” brought on by the continuing barrage of crisis news. As a silver lining, he noted that as airlines scale back service, business aviation will likely need to scale up operations.