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March 5, 2013

Wichita Business Journal
Emily Behlmann

As a business publication in the Air Capital of the World, we try to stay on top of news in the aviation industry as a whole, not just the happenings of Wichita-based companies.

You’ll notice, then, that our “Who we follow” lists reach beyond the Wichita metro area to include some key aviation players from around the world. That could be a major manufacturer like Boeing, which is phasing out its physical presence here but maintains relationships with local subcontractors; an aviation-focused journalist or blogger; or a labor union like the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.

Our main interest in assembling these lists is to choose companies and individuals that share information relevant to Wichita aviation.

The Twitter list, Facebook list and shared Google Plus circle are linked below, but here are a few standouts I particularly recommend:

• Spirit AeroSystems — Tweeting at @SpiritAero, Wichita’s largest employer shares lots of photos and interacts with customers.

• Bombardier Aerospace — On Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus, sometimes talking about Wichita-built aircraft. As a bonus, each update from the Canadian company is posted in both English and French.

• Cessna Aircraft Co. — This Wichita-based manufacturer’s Facebook page is very active, thanks in part to the community of pilots and other fans it has built.

• SPEEA — The aerospace engineers’ and technicians’ union uses Twitter as a platform for building support and making its case for workers. It’s a serious cause, but @SPEEAoften carries it out with a sense of humor. We’ve blogged about SPEEA tweets and videosa couple times before. Particularly interesting was a lengthy back-and-forth between SPEEA and Spirit leading up to a contract vote.

• EADS — The parent company of Airbus is one of the few firms in our Google Plus circle that’s really active on that network, sharing lots of video and photos.

• Greteman Group — Aviation is a big focus area for this Wichita-based branding agency, and they talk about it all the time on Twitter and Facebook. Today, they’re live-tweeting from Heli-Expo 2013 in Las Vegas.

• National Transportation Safety Board — I just started following the @NTSB on Twitter when the board began investigating incidents on the Boeing 787. It turned out to be a great source of information about all kinds of NTSB investigations. The board studies aviation, highway, marine, rail and pipeline accidents.

• Daniel McCoy — I obviously suggest you follow our aviation reporter. He tweets regularly about aviation issues at @ICTBiz_DMcCoy. His Twitter avatar, by the way, is a photo taken when he rode along on a KC-135 refueling mission from McConnell Air Force Base.

And here are the full lists:

• Facebook list — aviation.

Who are we missing? Let us know in the comments, or on Facebook or Twitter (@ICTBizJournal).

© Wichita Business Journal, 2013