Editor’s Notebook

Features and Benefits

Welcome to another challenging year in the aviation industry. The past few years seemed like amplified examples of the up-and-down cycles of the aviation industry, with higher highs and frighteningly low lows and everything in-between.

As bad as some parts of the industry have been, it remains true that the aviation industry survives and it's never going away, no matter what happens. It is also true that a lot of good jobs have disappeared forever and a lot of people are working for less than they deserve to earn, but unfortunately, these situations are part of a broad restructuring of the airline side of this business. And we don't expect the airline business to improve dramatically in the short term, although gradual improvement is already evident.

For the businesses that rely on the aviation industry for all their hard-earned revenues, these times are forcing fundamental changes in the way companies are operated. It is critical for aviation businesses to become as efficient as possible while also aggressively exploring market opportunities.

The 2005 Repair Center Directory is just one such opportunity. The thousands of companies listed in the Repair Center Directory have taken the first step toward marketing their services to the aviation industry. First, most of these companies made sure that they updated their listing for the directory, by logging on to www.directorypub.com/am and registering for a password so they can have a current listing. If your company didn't update its listing for the 2005 directory, please keep in mind that a company's listing can be updated at any time, and the current listing will be found in the online directory at the website listed above. The listings are gathered for the printed directory in early December each year. Make sure your data is current by the end of November.

There are other Aviation Maintenance tools that savvy companies use in their information-gathering and business development efforts:

Aviation Maintenance magazine is the principal contact with readers. We rely on companies to keep us informed on what's going on and encourage contact with us in the form of press releases and phone calls. Please direct all news and product information to the editors: Matt Thurber (mthurber@accessintel.com, 301-354-1831) and Joy Finnegan (jfinnegan@ accessintel.com, 301-354-1830). For marketing opportunities, please contact AM Publisher Nancy O'Brien at nobrien@ accessintel.com or 530-241-3534.

Aviation Maintenance publishes editorial content on the AM website, www.AviationMx.com. Access is free. Aviation Maintenance also publishes a monthly

e-mail newsletter, which tracks developments in the aviation aftermarket in a quick-read format that addresses all segments of the industry. Free subscription to the newsletter is available at www.AviationMx.com. For marketing opportunities in both the AM website and the newsletter, please contact AM Publisher Nancy O'Brien at nobrien@ accessintel.com or 530-241-3534.

Newly launched this year is the Aviation Maintenance STAR Symposium (Software Technology and Resource Symposium). This two-day conference covers computer software and hardware technology designed to help aviation maintenance businesses prosper and deliver and safe, high-quality product. The next STAR Symposium will be held in October 2005. For more information, see www.STARSymposium.com. (The STAR website will be updated with new information as the 2005 site is selected and the program is developed.)

Please take advantage of all the above opportunities to help your business grow and prosper during 2005. Whether it's information or marketing that you need, the Aviation Maintenance team is here to help.