By the time the eagerly awaited NBAA-BACE 2021 was wrapped up, it was obvious that the business aviation sector was rebounding from the pandemic’s hammer. NBAA was the first major in-person bizav event for almost two years & it was clear people were champing-at-the bit to do business. X-1FBO had its biggest booth to-date, largest team in place & most event demos ever! "This show was not about quantity, but about quality. We really were able to take time to get into good conversations with serious prospects. It was a great show for us. Everyone at this year's show really meant business!" -Monica Sarduy, VP of Sales & Marketing, X-1FBO Software.

But it has been since NBAA that the FBO sector in particular has been displaying its true resilience. Statistics from the FAA, Eurocontrol, Wing-X & others have been underlining the recovery of flight activity for some months now & anecdotal evidence from FBOs have been extremely positive.

If we needed more indicators to underline the residual confidence in our sector, we just have to look at the news hitting the headlines over the last week.

•Million Air announced that it is expanding its footprint in Florida with the acquisition of W Aviation at Fort Lauderdale.

•Freeman Holdings Group, the largest franchisee within the Million Air FBO network, has acquired ownership interest of ACI Jet with three FBOs involved, John Wayne-Orange County, San Luis County Regional & Paso Robles Municipal.

•Modern Air follow that news with news of their own, the agreement with Sheltair to purchase five of their New York stations, at JFK, LaGuardia, Republic, McArthur & Gabreski.

•Propeller Airports are to acquire Castle & Cook FBO at Paine Field.

Feedback from FBOs across our industry clearly points to a sector full of confidence & vision. Investment in infrastructure, technology & training is seen as vital to delivering quality, efficiency & competitiveness.