Gov. Kevin Stitt was still on an unannounced trip to the United Kingdom Monday, attending an aerospace convention alongside Oklahoma commerce and education officials.
"We are bringing Oklahoma to the world and the world to Oklahoma at Farnborough International Airshow!" Stitt posted on social media. "Proud to show off our state on an international stage."
On its website, the trade show describes itself as "the world's leading airshow" and a "global platform for the aerospace and defence industry."
Stitt, a Republican, said the Oklahoma display at the conference was meant to "let companies know how we're meeting workforce needs through higher education." Among those accompanying Stitt to England were Rose State College President Dr. Jeanie Webb, Southwestern Oklahoma State University President Dr. Diana Lovell, and Regional University System of Oklahoma Regent Christopher Van Denhende.
"We'll bring back a bunch of jobs back to Oklahoma," Stitt said in a video posted to Twitter.
Monday's visit to the trade show followed Stitt's office announcing via social media he had traveled to the U.K. Thursday, meeting in London with several members of Parliament from the ruling Conservative Party.
The governor has had a busy international travel itinerary of late, having visited Mexico on what he billed a diplomatic and economic visit last November and traveling to the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan last July.
The governor's office did not respond to a Monday morning request for more information on the U.K. trip or when Stitt is scheduled to return to Oklahoma. The governor's office did not announce the trip in advance, revealing the governor was overseas only via social media posts.
The economic development trip to the U.K. comes days after Oklahoma lost out to neighboring Kansas for a major Panasonic factory, following the governor and the legislature moving rapidly in April to approve massive tax break package for the Japanese electronics corporation, a negotiating tactic derided by one Kansas news outlet as a "clumsy pitch."
Stitt also finds himself promoting aerospace in the U.K. on the same day a record-breaking, climate change-exacerbated heatwave was reported to have melted airport runways across the country, grounding flights.
