Baker to participate in aircraft finance conference

Baker and General Aviation Manufacturers Association President Pete Bunce will discuss the current state of the aviation industry in a general session on March 23 at 1:30 p.m.

“The annual NAFA conference is a great opportunity to share best practices and discuss the many opportunities in aircraft ownership for our members,” Baker said. “The recent reforms to aircraft and medical certification have improved the regulatory environment that has burdened our industry, and will bring back many lapsed pilots to new and innovative aircraft designs.”

In other sessions, representatives of six aircraft manufacturing companies will offer their assessments of the industry’s prospects. They include Todd Simmons, president of Cirrus Aircraft; Peter Maurer, president of Diamond Aircraft Industries; Simon Caldecott, president of Piper Aircraft; Mark Burns, president of Gulfstream Aerospace; David Coleal, president of Bombardier Business Aircraft; and long-time NAFA member and newly appointed Embraer Executive Jets CEO Michael Amalfitano, NAFA said in a news release.

Overviews of the political and economic backdrop against which the industry is facing its opportunities and challenges will be provided by speakers including Michael Smerconish, syndicated radio show host and host of CNN’s Smerconish; John Robertson, vice president and senior policy adviser of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta will discuss current economic conditions, outlook, and monetary policy; and Todd Evans, a principal of Export Development Canada.

The conference promises to be “one of the best ever, providing knowledge and insight into the economic and political environment that is shaping the business aviation industry,” said the announcement from NAFA, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Edgewater, Maryland.

NAFA is “dedicated to promoting the general welfare of individuals and organizations providing aircraft financing and loans secured by aircraft; to improving the industry's service to the public; and to providing our members with a forum for education and the sharing of information and knowledge to encourage the financing, leasing and insuring of general aviation aircraft.”

More information about the annual conference is available on NAFA’s website.