A third major business jet OEM—Textron Aviation—has opted against participating in NBAA-BACE next month in Las Vegas. Textron Aviation this morning released a statement saying it “continues its focus on designing and delivering the best aviation experience for our customers as we maintain our business operations during this time. With that, Textron Aviation and TRU Simulation, a Textron Aviation affiliated company, will not participate as exhibitors at the 2024 [NBAA-BACE].”
The company added that it appreciates its longstanding involvement in industry events and looks “forward to future opportunities to showcase our industry-leading products.”
While not elaborating further, the decision comes amid a strike at Textron Aviation that began on Monday involving 5,000 members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local Lodge 774 District 70. The strike came despite the local bargaining committee’s recommendation that members accept the company’s offer. While Textron Aviation said it “has prepared for this scenario to ensure the business continues to operate for customers,” a Jefferies analyst estimated that the strike could disrupt 15 jet deliveries and reduce revenues by $300 million.
The decision to pull out just weeks ahead of this year’s NBAA-BACE, which will be held from October 22 to 24, comes as a surprise. In fact, Textron Aviation hosted a pre-NBAA-BACE media briefing earlier this month in Wichita.
After the decision, NBAA released a statement saying: "We at NBAA appreciate our partnership with Textron Aviation, as NBAA event exhibitors and key collaborators on the industry's highest priorities, including aviation safety, sustainability, and workforce development. We have been informed by company leadership that their focus on business operations will preclude their participation in NBAA-BACE this year. We respect their decision and look forward to welcoming their return to future NBAA events."
For NBAA, however, the decision follows those of Gulfstream Aerospace and Dassault Falcon to bypass this year’s BACE. Gulfstream has emphasized that it is looking at smaller, more regional events to reach its customers, while Dassault is believed to be opting for an every-other-year mode.
“I think that we have all been intrigued to see and hear about successes organizations are having hosting smaller, more intimate events with their business aviation customers, where the quality of the interaction (people, products, and services) is the focus,” noted Rolland Vincent, president of Rolland Vincent Associates. He suggested aircraft backlogs of 18 to 24 months may also play into the OEM’s evaluations of the events, particularly given the costs, and said, “I think time away from the office to attend these events has become an even more significant challenge than before.”
In his submission to business aircraft marketplace AvBuyer’s September publication, aviation analyst Brian Foley underscored the importance of these decisions, pointing out that the revenue brought in by the association’s events has declined from 63% of all of its revenues in 2019, roughly equating to $34 million, to 56% of all its revenue in 2023, equating to $28 million.
In his article, “Just When the Industry Needs Them Most,” Foley noted that NBAA has been creative in raising revenues through other sources. Pointing to emerging threats such as business aircraft audits and potential tax increases, he stressed, “The industry arguably needs NBAA advocacy more than ever but with rumors of even more anchor OEMs completely pulling out of NBAA-BACE, this is a time when NBAA needs continued industry support.”
He added that business aviation advocacy groups around the world have faced similar challenges with fewer exhibitors, possibly undermining some of their abilities to put on a show. “While the associations have been gradually adapting to these challenges, they still need continued support from their constituents to effectively lobby on their behalf.”
For NBAA, some of this may be cyclical. The OEMs over the years have continued to alter their footprints, opting at one show only to have a static display with a token customer support booth inside and then at the next show to have a full spread inside the convention floor.
NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen earlier had acknowledged the constant need to evolve as the shows have evolved. “Everything in life is things change—how are we going to react and work to address that change,” he told AIN.