Cessna Aircraft Company chairman, president and CEO Jack Pelton formally opened the Regional Aviation Association of Australia’s annual convention on the morning of October 1.
Pelton was the keynote speaker at the RAAA’s 10th annual convention, being held at the Hyatt Coolum on the Sunshine Coast, and told the approximately 300 delegates of the travails Cessna and the broader general aviation industry has endured worldwide in the wake of the global financial crisis and recession. Cessna has had to retrench around half its workforce as orders for both its business jet and piston light aircraft lines dried up, with Pelton telling the RAAA the recession is driving a fundamental recasting of the general aviation manufacturing industry in the US.
The RAAA’s second key international speaker was Mark Van Tine, president and CEO of Jeppesen Global.
“Thank you gentlemen, I think it’s a great achievement to attract gentlemen of your stature to our 10th annual convention,” said RAAA chairman Michael Bridge.
Some more images of the convention can be found on Australian Aviation’s Facebook page – visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Australian-Aviation/152590017537#/album.php?aid=160531&id=152590017537&ref=mf
