by Craig Fuller, President & CEO of Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association
The end of one year and the beginning of the next marks the ideal time to evaluate progress and plan for the future. And that’s what I find myself doing this time of year.
At the beginning of the year, we launched into a new decade – one that promised new challenges. Now, one year in, we can safely say we’ve achieved a great deal, but there’s still plenty of important work ahead.
Early in 2010 our hard work fighting user fees paid off. They’re gone for now, but we remain vigilant in case this misguided idea re-emerges.
Without the user-fee battle to fight, we rolled up our sleeves and set to work on a more positive agenda for general aviation, including moving forward with NextGen and working to ensure that costs are minimal and benefits are real.
Also on our agenda is shaping the future of avgas. We’ve challenged the EPA and urged the FAA to take a greater leadership role in ensuring that our piston fleet can continue to operate unimpeded. Throughout the year, we have gotten as close as we can to the innovators who are looking for alternative fuels, and there have been promising new developments.
Issues that affect groups within our membership have been pursued tenaciously and successful, too. We’ve worked hard to protect through-the-fence operations, rationalize TFRs, and fend off threats of new state taxes and fees — and it has worked.
We’ve also had big wins in the never-ending battle to keep airports open. Airports in Venice, Florida; Reno, Nevada; South Lake Tahoe, Oceano, and Hayward, California; Vista Field, Washington; and many other locations are still open thanks to the efforts of pilots working with AOPA to demonstrate the value of these fields.
We are greatly concerned about the reduction in the number of active pilots in the United States. Our AOPA Foundation has stepped up to the challenge with comprehensive research unveiled at the AOPA Aviation Summit in Long Beach. Working with leaders in the flight training arena, we are determined to build back our pilot population. You will hear more about this early in 2011.
And we’re doing so much more — creating and growing new communication tools, like AOPA Live, Aviation eBrief, ePilot, and Pilot and Flight Training magazines — and offering new products and services that return revenue to AOPA at no cost to you or to the association.
These days, no organization can afford to stand still. And, AOPA has not rested on her laurels. We are evaluating everything we are doing to support GA and actively seeking new ways to provide value for our members. There’s a lot more to do as we approach 2011, and frankly, I can’t wait!
