The ATEC board has decided to postpone its Annual Conference, previously scheduled for March 30-April 1. In lieu of the growing coronavirus concerns, the council will hold its traditionally springtime event in the fall. The 2020 conference is now tentatively scheduled for Sept. 13-16, 2020 in Fort Worth. The dates will be confirmed in the coming days.
The conference will occur in place of the Washington Fly-in, which will be cancelled in its entirety. We regret the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused, and thank the membership for its patience and understanding as the association works through the process of rescheduling.
This postponement will no doubt create questions, and we ask for your patience in advance as we respond to a high volume of emails and phone calls. Please allow up to a week for us to respond to your inquiries. In the meantime, here are some answers to what we anticipate to be the most commonly-asked questions.
Should I cancel current hotel reservations?
For those individuals who made a hotel reservation through the ATEC room block at the Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel, the hotel has already cancelled your reservation. If you did not receive a cancellation notification from the hotel via email, please contact the hotel directly to confirm cancellation. We will let the community know when a new hotel room block has been secured for the new conference dates. Attendees may rebook accommodation at that time.
Do I need to re-register for the Annual Conference now scheduled for September?
No. All current attendee registrations will be carried over to the September dates. There is nothing you need to do to secure a seat at the September event. See the latest attendee list to confirm whether you are already registered.
What if I'm currently registered and cannot attend in September?
You can cancel your registration for a full refund, or we can credit your organization's account to apply to a future event registration. Please submit all cancellation requests to Tarra Ruttman at [email protected].
What if I already reached out to cancel my attendance due to flight restriction or other coronavirus-related reason?
All attendees registered as of March 9 will remain on the registration list; your registration cancellation request was not processed if it was received last week. If you would like to confirm cancellation for the September event, please send an email to Tarra Ruttman at [email protected].
What should I do about my flight reservations?
Please refer to your airline carrier’s policies regarding fees associated with cancelling or rescheduling flights. Most if not all carriers are waiving cancellation and rebooking fees.
Will there be changes to the event agenda?
As of right now we do not anticipate any changes to the agenda, the entire program will be shifted to the new dates. That said, any modification required as we coordinate re-bookings with conference vendors and partners will be reflected as they are available on the online agenda.
Will this impact the 2021 conference dates?
The 2021 event will proceed as scheduled. (We were going to save announcement for the conference, but, drumroll please...) The 2021 ATEC Annual Conference will be hosted by United Airlines at its Flight Training Center in Denver. Mark your calendar for March 28-31, 2021!
