NBAA-BACE Final Schedule: Isaacman, FAA's Bedford and Udvar-Hazy Headline Oct. 20-22 Show in Las Vegas
Why It MattersPairing the NASA and FAA heads with regulatory and safety programming shows the convention serving as the industry's main venue for direct engagement with federal officials during major rulemakings and ATC modernization.
What happened
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) has released the final programming schedule for its Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), to be held Oct. 20-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) and Henderson Executive Airport (HND).
The show opens Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 9 a.m. with "The Launch" on the new Horizon Stage, located on the exhibit floor. Aviator Stephanie Goetz, known for her "Pink Jet," will serve as emcee. The program includes a fireside chat between NASA administrator and civilian astronaut Jared Isaacman and NBAA Board member and former Space Shuttle Commander Charlie Precourt on the future of aviation and aerospace. Isaacman, nominated as NASA administrator in November 2025 and confirmed by the Senate later that year, previously received NBAA's Meritorious Service to Aviation Award.
"The Launch" will also feature the presentation of NBAA's 2026 Meritorious Service to Aviation Award to Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, followed by a fireside chat between Udvar-Hazy and fellow award recipient Ross Perot Jr. Immediately afterward on the Horizon Stage, NBAA's 2026 Flying Safety Awards will be presented, honoring organizations reaching 50, 60 and 75 years of accident-free operations. Eight business aviation professionals will receive the Dr. Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award for leadership, ethics and selflessness in strengthening safety culture.
Regulators and the exhibit-floor program
At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20, an expanded Meet the Regulators session on the Horizon Stage will begin with a one-on-one conversation between Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford and NBAA senior vice-president of government affairs Kristie Greco Johnson. Topics include air traffic control modernization, international operations, safety and certification, amid major rulemakings and regulatory changes underway across the FAA and other federal agencies.
Flight Deck sessions on the exhibit floor will cover cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, maintenance capacity, advanced air mobility, aircraft transactions and career development. The show will also offer dozens of education sessions, professional development courses, safety and sustainability content, an expanded Military Connect program, and Collegiate Connect and Career Zone tracks.
Industry impact & what to watch
A convention programme is an agenda-setting tool as much as a calendar. Putting the heads of NASA and the FAA on the same opening-day stage as the industry's top service awards signals how NBAA wants business aviation seen: tied to the wider aerospace enterprise and in regular contact with the officials who write its rules. The expanded Meet the Regulators session, set against the rulemakings and agency changes the schedule itself cites, gives operators and manufacturers a rare chance to hear priorities on air traffic control modernization and certification directly rather than through filings.
The topic mix on the Flight Deck sessions, with cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and maintenance capacity alongside advanced air mobility, reflects where the segment's operating pressures sit. Maintenance capacity in particular speaks to a constraint that shapes aircraft availability for every type of operator.
The most concrete markers are the Tuesday sessions themselves: whatever Bedford says on air traffic control modernization and certification, and how the Isaacman conversation frames aviation's future, will set the tone for the rest of the show.
