Jet Advisors takes pride in being advocates for its clients. This truly is more than just a mission; it is a passion for our employees. Chris Swathwood, Jet Advisors Regional Sale Manager for the past 8 years has taken this passion for aviation outside of the office. In 2012, Swathwood was elected to a seat on the board for Colorado Aviation Business Association (CABA) where he now serves as the Vice Chairman and continues to work on promoting and protecting business and general aviation.
Recently, CABA completed a nearly three year project designed to promote the value of general aviation in Colorado. The “Support Colorado Aviation Plate Project” became a collaborative effort by numerous Colorado aviation organizations which was spearheaded by Swathwood.
The project started in 2014 when Swathwood devised a unique way to raise awareness of the economic importance of general and business aviation in Colorado. In June of that year, the plate project officially got under way and soon started to
receive national attention with the support of aviation media outlets. In late fall 2016, the petition for the plate exceeded the required 3,000 signatures and gained approval to move forward in the legislative process. The bill was sponsored by Representatives Paul Rosenthal and Lang Sias as well as Senators Bob Gardner and Daniel Kagan.
Keeping true to the theme of Colorado aviation, the plate design was put out to aviation artists in the state. Ultimately, it was Chris Glaser, a graphic designer with Jeppesen in Englewood who presented the winning design. The Support Colorado Aviation License Plate (www.supportcoloradoaviation.com) will give Colorado aviation professionals, pilots, and aviation enthusiasts a way to showcase their love and passion for aviation, while promoting the important role that aviation plays in the state’s economy. In 2017 the plate bill was signed into law with the plate becoming available in Sept 2018.
In Colorado, general aviation contributes $2.4 billion to the state’s economy, supports 265,700 jobs with a payroll of almost $11.2 billion. Additionally, Colorado boasts 74 public-use airports, serving 17,668 Colorado pilots and 7,066 general aviation aircraft. An estimated 1.8 million visitors arrive in Colorado on general/business aviation aircraft. Colorado aviation has a total economic impact of $32.2 billion to the state economy.
With the plate project now completed, Swathwood and the rest of the CABA board have set their sights on a new piece of legislation in 2018. Unlike the plate bill that was purely focused on rising awareness to the importance of aviation, this new legislation will be focused to directly benefit aircraft owners and operators, while helping to stimulate jobs. Look for more information on this new effort in the coming months.
More about the Colorado Aviation Business Association:
The mission of the Colorado Aviation Business Association is to promote the value of business and general aviation across the State of Colorado.
Founded in 1994, the Colorado Aviation Business Association consists of over 300 businesses and individual members who live and work within the State of Colorado. CABA addresses and responds to issues impacting Colorado Airports including safety and operational effectiveness; educates the general public about all aviation activities in the state; preserves and protects the state’s airport related businesses as valuable economic assets to the community at large; and provides for the training of future aviation professionals through the CABA Foundation scholarship fund.