Membership Includes Individuals, Elected Officials, Industry
Organizations
The Alliance for Aviation Across America announced last week
that it reached 5,500 members. The organization was
launched in early 2007 with just over a hundred individual and
organization members, including the Air Care Alliance (ACA),
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the National
Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO), the National
Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the National Grange, the
League of Rural Voters, among many others.
In the last several years, the
coalition has grown to over 5,500 member individuals, including new
groups and individuals such as Mayor Cathy Noon, Centennial, CO;
Patient AirLift Services (PALS), the City of LaGrange, GA, the
Washington Airport Management Association (WAMA), Mayor Mike Bush,
Hot Springs, AR; Air Medical Operators Association (AMOA); American
Air Campers Association (AACA); New Mexico Pilots Association;
Colorado Aviation Business Association (CABA); the Alabama
Department of Environmental Management; Mayor Scott Padgett,
Concord, NC; Walker Municipal Airport, MN, and the Recreational
Aviation Foundation.
"We are pleased with this milestone and
excited that the Alliance has become a vital resource for educating
the general public on the value of general aviation," said Selena
Shilad, Executive Director of the Alliance for Aviation Across
America. "General aviation is a literal lifeline to many
communities around the country for business resources and services
such as medical care, law enforcement, disaster relief,
agriculture, a host of other important resources. We look
forward to continuing to work with businesses, organizations and
individuals around the country to advance our mission of raising
awareness and protecting these smaller airports and this critical
form of transportation."
Over the last several years, the
Alliance has worked with hundreds of members and local partners to
raise awareness about general aviation through a host of media and
outreach efforts. In addition, as part of this mission, the
Alliance last year released a letter on behalf of over 60 Mayors to
President Obama highlighting the importance of general aviation,
and the Alliance recently launched an Economic Impact Survey, which
compiles economic data 50 states into an interactive web tool that
highlights the economic importance of general aviation nationally
and in all 50 states.
As a follow up to the release of that
survey, the Alliance has, along with coalition founding partners,
encouraged state and local officials all over the country to pass
resolutions and proclamations highlighting the importance of
general aviation. Thus far, Georgia, Nebraska, West Virginia,
New Jersey, Tennessee, New Mexico, Vermont, Ohio, Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Maryland, Kansas, Alaska, North Dakota, and Washington,
among others, have all signed proclamations recognizing the impact
aviation has on jobs and local economies in their states.
Additionally, local city and county resolutions have been
passed.