Helicopter Association International (HAI) has made the difficult decision to cancel HAI HELI-EXPO 2021.
HAI will not reschedule this year’s event. Instead, the association will redirect its efforts to producing HAI HELI-EXPO 2022, which will be held on March 7–10 in Dallas, Texas, a city that has traditionally been a hub of rotorcraft operations. HAI HELI-EXPO® has long served as a venue where the international VTOL industry annually gathers—to connect, learn, and conduct $2 billion in business.
“Please understand that we did not make this decision lightly,” said James Viola, president and CEO of HAI.
“HAI is here to support our members and customers. Leading up to mid-January, the majority of.industry voices who contacted us supported holding Expo.as long as.health and safety protocols were in place. We took extraordinary steps, working with our partners in New Orleans, to be able to conduct a safe event.”
As a mid-January deadline for exhibitors approached, the world also saw a spike in COVID-19 cases.
“Pandemic conditions have changed, and the majority of our stakeholders have recently expressed discomfort with the logistics involved in business travel at this time,” said Viola. “In response, we concluded that we had to.cancel.HAI HELI-EXPO 2021. We’re grateful for the honest feedback that we received from our members, exhibitors, attendees, and other stakeholders.
“Like many others during this past year, we have had to adjust course in response to changing conditions. HAI firmly believes that the flexibility that our industry has demonstrated throughout this pandemic will help our businesses and individuals persevere and strengthen.”
HAI is beginning to reach out to exhibitors, attendees, vendors, and other HAI HELI-EXPO 2021 stakeholders. Exhibitors have multiple options for their booth payments, including pushing participation and payment to the 2022 show in Dallas, repurposing dollars to other HAI advertising or sponsorship opportunities to support their business objectives in 2021, or issue of a full refund. More information on those options can be found at heliexpo.com/faq.
Registered attendees will receive a full refund, as will those who registered for HAI Professional Education courses. Our housing vendor, OnPeak, will cancel all hotel reservations booked within the HAI block. Registered attendees, HAI Professional Education course registrants, and those with hotel reservations within the HAI block will receive additional communication from HAI within the next 5–7 business days; more information is available at heliexpo.com/faq.
HAI is the professional trade association for the international helicopter industry. HAI members represent more than 3,000 aviation businesses and individuals who safely operate more than 4,500 helicopters approximately 2.3 million hours each year in more than 73 nations. HAI is dedicated to the promotion of the helicopter as a safe, effective method of commerce and to the advancement of the international helicopter community.
