Bombardier opened the 25th edition of its annual Safety Standdown today with about 200 in-person attendees and another 1,000 participating through online streaming. On the two-day event’s silver anniversary, held at the Hyatt Regency in Wichita, Bombardier officials noted the transition of Safety Standdown leadership from Andy Nureddin to Chris Milligan. Nureddin, who’s led the standdown for 15 years and is Global 7500 fleet leader, plans to retire at the end of 2022. Milligan is v-p of preowned aircraft services and flight operations for Bombardier.
The event opened with brief remarks from Bombardier executive v-p of services and support and strategy J.C. Gallagher, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, and FAA Central Region regional administrator Joe Miniace.
Gallagher noted in his remarks that what began in 1996 as a human factors safety-training event for a small group of Bombardier demonstration pilots has evolved into an annual event that over a quarter of a century has provided training to more than 10,000 corporate, commercial, and military pilots. Miniace added that the longevity of the event is impressive. “What it really shows is you have found something that works,” he said.