Today is the last day of Aviation Industry Expo. It has been another great show. I thought I'd go ahead and update my blog before heading to the show floor this morning.
The big news of the day yesterday was the announcement of the winners of the PAMA Olympics. It was an exciting competition, with four maintenance teams competing for the coveted championship trophy. There were two A&P schools in the competition, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the Aviation Institute of Maintenance. There were also two returning teams, returning champions Midcoast Aviation and the team from Southwest Airlines. Even though the two student teams were made up of students currently studying to become A&Ps, I must say they held their own against the two veteran teams. It was great to see everyone in the competition.
Midcoast had their eyes set on winning the championship for the fourth year in a row. But they had a hungry team from Southwest determined to stop the winning streak and take the trophy back with them to Dallas. In the final round, it was Midcoast and Southwest competing for the gold. It was a close finish, but the team from Southwest came out victorious and became the 2007 PAMA Olympics champions. Congratulations Southwest!
Even though Southwest won the championship and took the gold, it wouldn't be fair to say they were the winners of the competition. You see, everybody that competed in the Olympics over the last several days were winners. The professionalism and skills displayed by the teams throughout the competition, and the friendships they made both on and off the Olympic arena floor, showed all of us what it means to be true aircraft maintenance professionals.
In closing, I'd like to wish a Happy Birthday to a huge aviation buff. Noah Neiser had a birthday yesterday. I was able to take a few minutes away from the show floor to call him and wish him a Happy Birthday. Noah has a passion for aviation, and has goals of becoming a pilot. I had the opportunity to take a few minutes to walk around the show floor with Noah for last year at the HeliExpo tradeshow in Dallas. He enjoyed seeing all of the helicopters on display and even got to try his hands piloting a helicopter at one of the simulators. Happy Birthday Noah!
Oh yeah, Noah is my nephew and just turned eight. If anyone would like to wish this future aviator a Happy Birthday, fell free to leave a comment.
Time to head for the show floor. Thanks for reading, and thanks for letting me make my nephew's day!
Joe Escobar