Bombardier Safety Standdown Returns to Wichita for 30th Anniversary, November 10–12
Why It MattersLong-running, no-cost industry safety forums like this rely on cross-sector participation and named expert speakers to spread risk-assessment practices beyond a single manufacturer's own fleet or workforce.
What happened
Bombardier will bring its Safety Standdown seminar back to Wichita, Kansas on November 10-12, marking the event's 30th anniversary under the theme "Evolution Fueled by Legacy." The three-day seminar is free to attend, available both in person and online, and open to aviation professionals from all manufacturers and all aircraft types, including flight crews, maintenance technicians, flight dispatchers and schedulers, and representatives from corporate, commercial and military organisations.
Since its inception, Safety Standdown has been attended by more than 10,000 aviation professionals worldwide, either at live seminars or through webcasts. The event was first conceived by a group of Learjet demonstration pilots in Wichita who sought to make Bombardier's flight demonstration team the safest in the industry.
Headlining this year's event is Dr. Tony Kern, CEO of Convergent Performance, whose keynote will trace a line from combat strategist John Boyd's instincts to modern risk-assessment algorithms. Other featured speakers include Ivan Pupulidy, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, presenting "Risk: The Untold Story"; retired U.S. Marine Corps Major Jermaine Cadogan, presenting "Building a Culture of Excellence & Proactive Compliance"; and Tim Wade, Corporate Director of Environmental, Health & Safety at Flexjet, presenting "What you lead, you leave." Chris Milligan, Vice President, Pre-owned Aircraft Services and Flight Operations at Bombardier, said the conference provides aviation professionals with opportunities to gain new perspectives on safety and hone their skills through knowledge shared by industry experts. Registration for the event is now open.
Industry impact & what to watch
Safety Standdown belongs to a category of manufacturer-hosted but cross-industry safety forums that have grown from a single fleet's internal training exercise into an open, multi-operator gathering spanning corporate, commercial and military aviation. Its origin among Learjet demonstration pilots, followed by three decades of growth to over 10,000 attendees, illustrates how a narrow, type-specific safety initiative can scale into an industry-wide resource once it opens itself to other manufacturers and aircraft types.
The mix of speakers, drawn from a performance consultancy, a university, the military and a fractional operator, shows how safety programming in business aviation now pulls expertise from outside the aircraft OEM itself, reflecting a broader trend of shared risk-assessment practice rather than siloed, single-company training.
What happens over the three days in Wichita, and how attendance and webcast participation compare with prior editions, will indicate whether the anniversary edition sustains or extends the seminar's reach across the wider aviation safety community.
