The State Of AOPA

In contrast to AOPA Expo General Session meetings over the previous two days, Saturday's opening meeting was much less a rallying cry to arms... and more an update on the state of your Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

AOPA President Phil Boyer led off with a nod to our Veterans, who help keep our skies free, before noting this expo looks to be a record breaker; as of the close of the Expo Friday, slightly over 11,000 people were in attendance. That's within 700 attendees of the all-time attendance record from 2002... which, incidentally, was also the last time Expo was held in Palm Springs.

AOPA membership at the end of October topped 409,318 -- "which I'll go ahead and round up to 410,000 now," Boyer joked.

After the numbers, the topic turned to politics. The AOPA political action committee was hard at work during this last election, which Boyer says turned out quite positively for aviation interests.

Ninety percent of the candidates that AOPA supported were elected. The committee "doesn't buy us votes, it buys us access," states Boyer.

Next up was Jeff Myers, AOPA Executive Vice President of Communications. Myers reiterated AOPA's constant vigilance against aviation foes. "Leave no story unchallenged." is the creed. Interviews are done via, phone, in-person and by satellite feed. AOPA also has a small studio set up allowing immediate response to aviation issues. A recent example being the Cory Lidle accident.

Myers also introduced Erik Lindbergh (below), the spokesman for Project Pilot. Project Pilot is designed to "provide encouragement" says Myers.

About 3,000 pilots are signed up on the AOPA Project Pilot website. AOPA members who sign up are provided with learning materials and more for both mentor and protege. Bringing new blood into the pilot pool is the goal; those student pilots with mentors are three times more likely to achieve their goal of a Private Pilot license.

A revamped AOPA website was also previewed. Taking member suggestions into account, the site has become less a cluttered closet and more neat, and easy to navigate. The rollout is expected in the summer.

Andy Cebula, Executive Vice President for Government Affairs briefed on Airport closures. Seven staff members are located in Frederick, MD... and there are 13 regional reps. Added to those folks are the almost 1700 volunteers across the country who are the early warning eyes and ears on possible airport actions.

The action against Mayor Daley and Meigs Field was applauded with the fines levied against Chicago, the repayment of misused Airport funds and the Meigs Legacy Provision enacted. The Meigs Legacy Provision calls for proper channels to be followed for airport closings and heavy fines if legal steps are not followed.

Two recent wins against airport closings were close to home for SoCal residents Oceanside and Bakersfield, CA remain open. Especially significant was the stern letter from the FAA opposing the closing of Bakersfield.

Next, Karen "Sugar Mama" (her term! -- Ed.) Gebhart, Executive Vice President for Non-Dues Revenue, showed us the money. She is carrying the gauntlet Boyer set down 15 years ago to keep dues the same $39 as long as he is President. Then where does the revenue come from the others spend?  Member products account for 35%, ads 30%, member dues 28%, ROI and other 10%.

The AOPA revamped the credit card program prior to the take over of MBNA by Bank of America. This new program will run to 2012. The prior rebate limit maximum has been removed. In place is a point system, which can be used for cash, travel or gift cards. Many aviation purchases earn double points while non-aviation purchases earn single point. Suppliers like Sporty's and King are subscribing to double points, so remember Christmas is near, treat yourself and benefit AOPA at the same time.

With an 18% rise in calls to the AOPA Legal Services over the past year the $29 fee to use the services is a bargain that also benefits AOPA.

The last speaker was Bruce Landsberg, Executive Director of the award winning Air Safety Foundation. He gave us the good news: a 71% improvement in General Aviation accidents since 1967.

This improvement could probably be even better in the coming years if more pilots took advantage of the AOPA On-Line Safety courses. A mere 5.5% of the pilot population has accessed at least one course. With topics from Mountain Flying to Thunderstorms, any pilot can access these courses and benefit from them. Turn off the TV for an hour and head for the computer, you're sure to learn something.

An added benefit of taking a course is AIG (Aviation Insurance Group) offering extra cost cutting benefits to those who complete one of the courses.

Landsberg also pointed out the Air Safety Foundation is not supported by "Sugar Mama" but by 3% Federal Grants, 17% from AOPA courses and a whopping 80% from donations. Again, Christmas is just around the corner, remember to give.

FMI: www.aopa.org, www.aig.com