Tells Wichita Aero Club "We Cannot Afford To Focus Only On The
Problems Of Today"
The future for general aviation is bright, but it will require
collective action by individual pilots and industry leaders to
realize GA's potential, AOPA President Craig Fuller told the
Wichita Aero Club on Wednesday.
Acknowledging that GA is presently caught in the downdraft of
the slumping economy, Fuller said, "We cannot afford to focus only
on the problems of today. Now is the time to lay the groundwork for
recovery. Now is the time to launch the initiatives that will
accelerate our climb back to growth and prosperity."
The Wichita Aero Club presentation was Fuller's first official
public speech since taking AOPA's left seat January 1, and his
first trip out of the Washington, DC area since President Obama's
inauguration. "I must tell you it has been an exciting and moving
time," said Fuller. "And I have seen a new spirit of hope in a city
known for its cynicism."
Fuller told more than 230 Aero Club members the new mood in
Washington gives general aviation both the opportunity and the
imperative to improve its image with opinion leaders and the
public. "Experience taught me long ago that if you do not define
yourself, you are defined by your adversaries," he said, citing his
28-years working in the Washington political arena. "All of us in
aviation have a role to play. We must be engaged in the political
process. We must define ourselves so our adversaries don't. We
cannot afford to be passive and wait for better days."
The AOPA president noted that, perhaps surprising to most
pilots, there is a good base of public support for general
aviation. Sixty-two percent of voters surveyed on election night
said that GA is an important part of the nation's transportation
system.
"They know a little; they need to know a lot more," said Fuller.
"AOPA, along with other key associations, is committed to telling
this story."
Fuller conceded there are still some "nagging issues" in
Washington that must be resolved. First among them is FAA
funding... and the ever-present threat of user fees, stalled only
because final agreement on an FAA funding plan hasn't been
accomplished.
"We do not want to replay the user fee debate," Fuller said,
noting the current extension to FAA funding expires at the end of
March. "If we must, we have AOPA members ready and willing to take
up arms... At a time when so many other challenges require our
attention, we don't need a continuing fight over funding. While
this debate goes on, we can't make progress on air traffic control
modernization, investment in airports, and other critical
improvements."
Fuller was adamant that general aviation will weather the
economic recession, and recover from it. "The truth is, it's been
this way for us many times before," he said, noting GA was nearly
decimated during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
"Just a few years after that, AOPA was founded -- 70 years ago,"
Fuller said. "Think about that. AOPA got its start in the bleakest
of times. Talk about optimism. We were still in the midst of
depression, the country was about to go to war, and the government
was about to ban GA flying."
In a lighter moment, Fuller asked Molly McMillin, aviation
reporter for the Wichita Eagle, to join him on stage. "Molly comes
from a flying family, and she has covered aviation for a good
number of years," Fuller said. "But she didn't take up flying
herself until just recently. On November 1st, Molly soloed her
father's Tri-Pacer out of Augusta.
"Frankly Molly, you must be a bold pilot to learn to fly in a
Piper here in Wichita," Fuller quipped, before presenting her with
an AOPA certificate commemorating her solo.
The tone then turned more serious, as Fuller called on all
involved in general aviation to become active in the political
process, and to take the lead in showing others general
aviation’s importance to the economy and the national
transportation system.
"We have some very tough fights ahead of us," said Fuller, "but
I firmly believe that by working together and by standing up for
what matters, our future can be even more exciting than our
past."