Greetings IAWA members and industry colleagues,

In my last installment, I mentioned that it is the goal of the IAWA Board to ensure that IAWA membership provides maximum benefits to our members.  In this installment, I am pleased to report on our efforts in furthering that goal. 

We have finalized our affiliation with The Wings Club. If you are an IAWA member in good standing, you now have several of the benefits extended to The Wings Club members. The Wings Club holds monthly luncheons in New York City. Each month, an industry leader is invited to give a keynote address. The Wings Club also hosts an annual formal dinner-dance at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel where it recognizes the significant contributions of industry leaders by awarding an annual Distinguished Achievement Award. This year the award will go to Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Chairman and CEO of Deutsch Lufthansa AG. The Wings Club luncheons and annual dinner are powerful networking events and now, as an IAWA member, you may attend these events at The Wings Club member rates. IAWA Members are able and encouraged to join the Wings Club at discounted rates. I am happy to report that since we finalized our affiliation, IAWA members have made a strong showing at the Wings Club luncheons, and our organization has been given special recognition at these events. 

I also mentioned in my last update that we were planning two regional receptions. On May 16th we held the first of those receptions in New York City at the offices of Condon & Forsyth in Times Square.  It was a wonderful event, attended by approximately 50 IAWA members and prospective members. The gathering gave us an opportunity to connect with some new colleagues and re-connect with familiar ones all while sampling some fantastic hors d’oeuvres.  Pictures of the reception are now posted on our website. This gathering was possible due to the generosity of Condon & Forsyth, where Kathy Posner is a partner, and Campbell, Campbell, Edwards & Conroy, where Kathy Guilfoyle is a partner. We are very grateful for the support of these law firms and their commitment to IAWA’s success. 

I want to take this opportunity to add a special note of thanks to Kathy Posner for organizing the New York reception. Kathy has been with IAWA since its beginning and her dedication to furthering the mission of IAWA has been unwavering. She served two terms as President of the organization and has served in numerous leadership positions throughout the organization’s history.  Presently she is an Advisory Board member.  Kathy annually leads the sponsorship effort, raising the funds which allow IAWA to put on the high quality conferences which our membership has come to expect. Kathy also led the effort to create the IAWA history video which was presented in Chicago last October in celebration of our 20th anniversary. For those of you who missed the conference, or just want to see the video again, it is available for viewing on our website. Those of you who know Kathy know that she is dedicated to many non-profit and women’s organizations and she serves them all with energy and enthusiasm.  IAWA is fortunate to benefit from her dedication to the advancement of women. 

We are now well into planning our second regional reception which will be held in Washington, D.C. on July 8th from 6 to 8 pm. This reception will take place at the offices of  Cozen & O’Connor, which has also generously agreed to sponsor the event. If you plan to attend this reception, please let us know by sending an email confirming your attendance to Lisa Piccione, Vice President of Membership. Lisa’s email address is: lpiccione@nbaa.org. If you know of members or potential members who might be interested in attending the reception, please advise Lisa of that as well. We look forward to seeing all of you who are able to attend.

Finally, I’m pleased to report that the Brussel’s conference, Rendezvous in the E.U., is coming together nicely. The conference committee is organizing a fantastic program. We recognize the global recession is forcing everyone to tighten their belts and we are striving to keep the conference costs affordable.  With the assistance of IAWA member Mia Wouters, we have negotiated an excellent rate at the hotel Bristol Stephanie beginning at 165 Euros per night.  The program will again feature presentations by leaders in the aviation industry on topics which are timely and of interest to our professions. The registration fee will remain at $595 for members, $750 for non-members, an exceptional value for such a substantive and informative program. We are excited about being in Brussels, the seat of the European Union, to discuss the topics of the day–emissions trading, the impact and status of “open skies,” medical and illness issues associated with air travel, the European Aviation Safety Agency, policies on passenger data, U.S. and European aviation competition and regulations, new aviation markets, the economic impact on aircraft buying, selling and financing, and the insurance markets. Please register for the conference today though the IAWA website.

We look forward to seeing you in Brussels!  

Best regards,

Debra Fowler
President, IAWA