Amid competing ideas and philosophies voiced between political titans Paul Begala and Matt Schlapp during Wednesday’s keynote session at NBAA 2018, one striking point of agreement ultimately emerged. NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen extracted from the debate the need for the business aviation industry to get to the ballot box during the mid-term elections, irrespective of their political preferences.

“We’ve heard a case effectively made from the left and from the right, but I think the thing they both agreed on was that your vote matters,” said Bolen. “Politics matter. We all have a voice. During the FAA reauthorization debate, we all exercised our voice, we connected with our members of Congress, we asked them how to represent us, and that’s the one thing I think we can all agree on. Whatever the outcome of the mid-term elections, I hope it will be because all of us go out and vote.”

Also during Wednesday's keynote, past and future generations of the industry were honored with recognition of NBAA’s Top 40 Under 40 awardees and presentation of the Meritorious Service Award to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

Bertrand Piccard, copilot of the Solar Impulse 2, engaged the audience with a presentation that championed innovation and embracing the unknown to propel advancement in the industry. “Innovation does not come when you have a new idea, it comes when you throw away an old belief,” said Piccard.