by Mark Baker
AOPA President & CEO
Published in Midwest Flyer Magazine December 2023 Digital Issue
The weather may be getting a little nippy in much of the country and July weather may be a faint memory for most of us, but as the current month is all about giving, my mind keeps wandering back to our favorite middle-of-the-summer holiday.
Every Fourth of July for the past, well many, years, I have kept up a tradition of taking kids up for an airplane ride, many for the first time. Those days in Minnesota and northern Wisconsin are among the most vivid images of my long flying life. I’ve taken hundreds of kids, grandkids, nephews, and their friends and neighbors aloft – even the kids of those I gave rides to! Brings me back to when I got my first rides.
This past Fourth of July, I gave rides to a bunch of kids in my Cessna 185. What a day that was!
So why am I recalling this summertime fun while some of us already have snow on the ground, and many of us are vigorously incorporating cabin heat? Because it’s how I have tried to give back to general aviation and our community, and this month is all about giving back and giving thanks.
There is a lot to be thankful for, and if you’ll allow me a moment of grandfatherly brag, there’s someone very special joining me in giving thanks. The amazing (yes, amazing!) drawing on this page was created by my granddaughter Evelyn. Evelyn gives thanks for the airplane rides she has enjoyed with her cousins. And what an amazing portrait of me, wouldn’t you say!
Evelyn’s words couldn’t ring truer, and we can all learn a lesson from this precious child.
We all should feel blessed that we have been given an opportunity to pursue a unique passion and one that can only truly be experienced here in this great country of ours. I am grateful that I have been able to give so many young people a taste of our freedom (and excitement!) to fly. Some have even taken this passion to a professional level. I have one nephew who is now flying for Delta, and a neighbor who’s now flying for Sun Country. Isn’t that one of the goals of taking someone new up for an airplane ride – to inspire them to become part of our community and get their pilot’s certificate, and more?
Pilots are a benevolent group, and we try to give back to something that has given all of us so much. I know so much was given to me—and I am appreciative of that every day.
I’m also extremely grateful this season to the people I am lucky enough to call my colleagues. Our team at AOPA makes my job and life that much easier. While people may thank me for protecting our freedom to fly—and introducing them to this wonderful passion we all share—the thanks should be given to those I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with every day. Aviation is a team sport, and I am thankful for having the best team around.
A big part of the full AOPA team, and folks to whom I and all of general aviation owe a debt of gratitude, are the donors who support the AOPA Foundation, and in turn the important programs it sustains. These include our You Can Fly initiative and the Air Safety Institute. Much like my airplane rides in Minnesota do, You Can Fly works to introduce, broaden, and sustain the pilot population—and keep it safe. During this year, alone, 20,000 students are part of our You Can Fly High School initiative, in more than 500 schools across the country. Since the program began, more than 60 percent of our total 65,000 program graduates say they are pursuing an aviation career. That is music to my ears, and again, thanks to those benevolent supporters for helping to make it happen.
As you read this, I am sure that many are making plans to spend the holiday season with friends and family. I want to wish you and yours a great holiday with lots of cheer and laughter and, of course, Blue Skies!
