State officials meet aviation groups at Chicago conference

NCSL is a bipartisan group focused on providing state legislators with “the tools, information and resources to craft the best solutions to difficult problems,” according to the group’s website. 

AOPA and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the National Business Aviation Association, and the Alliance for Aviation Across America created an “Aviation Alley” at the event’s exhibition hall.

“For the first time, the industry spoke with a unified voice in a centralized location at the NCSL Summit to most effectively tell the story of the positive impacts GA has on communities from the 1.1 million American jobs to medical and mercy flights,” said AOPA Director of State Government Affairs Jared Esselman. 

Esselman, who was appointed to the NCSL Foundation board of directors at the summit, said contacts from the conference and his new position will help to further AOPA’s efforts to promote the economic viability of airports, reduce the cost of flying, and reduce unnecessary regulations on pilots. 

The next NCSL Legislative Summit will be in Boston Aug. 6 through 9, 2017.