"Rocky" Theme Blares As AOPA Expo Comes to a Close

Phil Boyer, AOPA president opened the last of the three-day Expo by leading a parade of AOPA senior management onto the stage to the theme song from the movie "Rocky." The room was 80% full, pretty good for the last day of this clearly successful aviation gathering.

Boyer said attendance through the second day was more than 9,000 people. Expressing pleasure at that participation level, Boyer described the 225 person AOPA staff which serves more than 400,000 members. "AOPA represents two-thirds of all the licensed pilots in this county," Boyer reported, "and that is an important asset when talking with congress and regulators." Boyer said that AOPA is not expecting very much more growth, so he encouraged early renewals of existing members to keep the association strong.

Boyer introduced a new AOPA video that explained the Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and how it works. Video of actual approaches illustrated a direct comparison between traditional ILS and WASS approaches. Boyer said the video is to encourage pilots to purchase the on-board equipment necessary to use WAAS. He emphasized that, "We have got to encourage FAA to put approaches, not at places where we already have approaches, but where we need them [big applause]. "The greatest fear, as the Administrator said on Wednesday, is that no one will equip with this system." Boyer reminded the audience that FAA had promised to work on new approaches only if we [pilots] would look at upgrading the suite of avionics to include a WAAS receiver.

Andy Cebula, Senior Vice President, Government and Technical Affairs, was the first senior staff member to speak. Cebula provided the audience with an overview of the advocacy work for his 32 person staff in AOPA Headquarters and the Washington Office. Covered in his division are direct interactions with FAA, Transportation Security Administration, and Secret Service. They are also advocacy voices for advanced technology, and regional affairs (airports and state legislatures). He thanked the AOPA Airport Watch volunteers and AOPA Regional Representatives who, collectively, are the "eyes and ears of AOPA at the local and regional levels."

Then, AOPA's executive vice president-Communications, Jeffery Myers, described how reorganization within AOPA has consolidated all of the communications areas under one management. This is to better coordinate the individual areas, such as pilot Magazine and AOPA website, so that members can more easily find what they want using the method they prefer. According to Myers, another advantage to improved communication coordination is the ability to more effectively discover and disseminate information in all areas of interest to AOPA members.

Karen Gebhart, Executive vice president of Products and Services, presented AOPA marketing programs and how they help members. She gave examples of new AOPA member services and their value to pilots. For example the new American Express AOPA credit card and the "turbo-medical" on the AOPA web site. Turbo medical is an on-line form that guides you through a medical application and automatically flags answers that are a problem to FAA. Gebhart responsibilities also include Aviation Services (staff members who answer calls and mail), and the Medical Department. Boyer added that her division is also responsible for the convention, itself.

AOPA Air Safety Foundation (AOPA/ASF) is headed by Bruce Landsberg, Executive Director. The AOPA Air Safety Foundation purpose is to, "help pilots fly easier and safer." He projected a chart of diminished aviation accidents showing that the 2004 Jan-to-date accident rate is down 12 percent [audience applause]. "Our plate is as full as it has ever been," he says. The annual Noll Report dictates the next year of activity based on accident causes and trends. According to Landsberg, the AOPA ASF web site (renamed "On Line Safety Center") will have new concepts to provide more information and easier access. He demonstrated new web features, on-line courses on the large stage-side monitors, and affirmed the commitment to continue and improve live seminars. Landsberg reported that a new program named Weather Wise is ready to go and they plan upcoming on-line weather courses.

Harvey Cohen, Senior Vice President, AOPA Air Safety Foundation, starts by saying, "Lock the doors." He describes the AOPA Air Safety Foundation fund raising events and how important donations are to the continuing work of ASF. Cohen said that AOPA ASF is the "world's largest tax-deductible foundation for aviation safety and has existed for 55 years." "How much have you donated?" he asks of all…

Boyer concluded the session by thanking members for making this year a banner AOPA Expo and for providing the memberships that allow AOPA to serve all of general aviation.

FMI: www.aopa.org