purchasers now demand con- nectivity on their aircraft to stream data or videos; and private aircraft custom- ers also look for these same amenities. As more companies conduct business globally, heavy aircraft are more in demand. Steve Cass commented that Gulfstream has “seen tremendous demand for the G650—a shift to move to bigger airplanes—longer, wider and heavier aircraft…and the need for range and space capability.” INDUSTRY OVERVIEW AND MARKET FORECAST Richard Aboulafia, Vice President, Analysis Teal Group Corporation Introduced by: Jeff Ross, NATA Board Member Ross Aviation, President and CEO Richard Aboulafia, Vice President, Analysis at the Teal Group 40 Corporation, discussed a number of topics, including aircraft mar- kets, business jet market perfor- mance trends, business aircraft deliveries and corporate profits, GDP year/year growth rates, U.S. business jet operations per year, business jet activity in world re- gions, and business jet forecasts. Aboulafia shared his projections for the upcoming year, noting, “This is going to be a disappoint- ing year. Next year will be too. But we are not in free-fall, like 2008.” He added that the in- dustry is “cautiously confident that things don’t get worse.” He also discussed business aircraft deliveries and their cor- relation to corporate profits, stating: “The last couple of years, corporate profits are doing fine, but the range of people buying jets seems to be narrowing.” The consistent theme throughout his presentation of statistics and data analysis focused on his belief that the future appears to be in bigger aircraft, and aircraft manufactur- ers are facing a market where barriers to entry are still very high, and barriers to exit are lowering. LUNCHEON KEYNOTE Matt K. Lewis CNN Political Commentator, Author and Editor Introduced by: Bill Deere, Executive Vice President of Government and External Affairs National Air Transportation Association Over the lunch break, conference attendees heard from political commentator Matt Lewis. Lewis discussed the 2016 presidential election results and the impact a Trump presidency will have on the country. He noted, “We are in the midst of a reordering…Trump won Pennsylvania and Wisconsin… this is phenomenal…you could bank they are Democratic states.” According to Lewis, the Trump victory shocked the world, includ- ing political pundits and expert pollsters that inaccurately pre- dicted the election results in favor of Hillary Clinton. Lewis attributed President-elect Trump’s victory to demographic challenges, polling, the impact of rising healthcare costs, and the generally divisive tone of the 2016 election cycle. Lewis suggested Trump could Aviation Business Journal | 4th Quarter 2016 2016 NATA AVIATION BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE
