Convention and Industry Showcase, held in Palm Springs, California, included 44 exhibitors with 61 booths. Te yearly meeting and exposition became HAI HELI-EXPO® with the February 1989 event. HAI HELI-EXPO is now an essential industry event that


each year brings together the vertical aviation industry to connect, learn, and conduct business. Te last edition, held in March 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia, hosted 12,400 attendees from 97 countries. An estimated $2 billion in business was conducted by the 639 exhibitors, which ranged from air- frame manufacturers to the small businesses that are the backbone of the industry. Besides the show floor, attendees could take advantage of 116 safety education sessions, professional education courses, manufacturer technical briefings, and industry meetings and forums. Te event also featured an industry career fair and a Mil2Civ workshop, where military veterans who have successfully made the transition to the civil industry shared their lessons learned. “We’re very proud of each year’s show,” says Charlotte


Zilke, HAI senior director of membership and conventions. “But our industry is dynamic and evolving, and that means HAI has to do the same. We know how important HAI HELI-EXPO is to our attendees, and we try each year to give them something new to experience.” HAI’s education initiatives and events go far beyond


HAI HELI-EXPO and include a quarterly magazine, a daily e-newsletter, and monthly webinars. Te HAI Online Academy offers on-demand courses for pilots, maintenance technicians, and managers on safety, operations, uncrewed aerial systems, and personal and professional development. In addition, HAI organizes and conducts forums on devel- oping operational and policy issues that bring together operators, regulators, safety agencies, and government leaders to discuss urgent matters.


For the Benefit of All As the leading global helicopter association, HAI is able to connect the entire industry ecosystem of operators, manu- facturers, and regulators. For example, when the FAA was preparing to roll out automatic dependent surveillance-broad- cast (ADS-B) as a key element of its Next Generation Air Transportation System, HAI saw an opportunity. Staff members worked with the Helicopter Safety Advisory Conference, an organization coordinating safety efforts among companies and organizations involved in offshore energy production in the Gulf of Mexico, including operators and owners of offshore rigs. Brokering an agreement between all parties, HAI


18 ROTOR SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE


persuaded the FAA to fund placement of ADS-B units on oil rigs. In exchange, rig owners would cover the cost of the space occupied on the rigs and supply power to the FAA units. Helicopter operators would outfit their aircraft to take advan- tage of the more precise surveillance coverage. Te multiparty, multiyear agreement allowed the FAA to


test ADS-B’s greater surveillance capabilities and provide coverage of low-level traffic where little was possible before. Air traffic controllers could refine their procedures and prac- tices to optimize ADS-B’s application in their airspace. Operators were able to substantially close the separation between aircraft, from 100 nautical miles to 5, thereby increasing the number of flights while improving the level of safety. At a 2010 joint press conference with FAA Administrator


Randy Babbitt to announce the implementation of ADS-B services in the Gulf of Mexico, HAI President Matt Zuccaro said of the successful collaboration between industry and regulators, “Tis is the way the system is supposed to work.” Te operating agreement between the operators and the FAA was renewed several times before ADS-B was mandated for most aircraft flying in the US National Airspace System. In 1983, HAI and the European Helicopter Association


(EHA) formed the International Federation of Helicopter Associations (IFHA) to bring together industry stakeholders from around the world to coordinate on international regulations. Te International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) granted the IFHA status in 1998 to observe and join in specific meetings relating to rotorcraft operations, putting it on par with other nongovernmental organizations, such as the Flight Safety Foundation and RTCA (formerly the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics). As IFHA representatives, HAI staff regularly represent


the global vertical aviation industry at ICAO meetings. Tey also serve on several ICAO advisory panels and working groups that address issues such as standards relating to crew fatigue, instrument flight procedures, and heliport/ vertiport design. In all, HAI staff serve on 34 regulatory or standards groups, including 10 international ones, often as the only voice of the vertical aviation industry. HAI’s actions to foster industry collaboration have been


frequent and widespread, ranging from addressing member concerns about insurance cost burdens and proposed equipment certification changes to HAI joining with nearly a score of other aviation and transportation industry asso- ciations in urging the US Congress to address pressing workforce development and infrastructure issues. In the same way, HAI coordinates and consolidates industry responses to regulators in the development of standards


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