General aviation's revitalization depends on increased student starts
Your association spent much of 1995 looking into the future. At the same time that AOPA was busy serving the needs of yet another record membership — we ended our fifty-sixth year with 340,809 names in the member rolls — we were also working to define general aviation in the years ahead and determine the organization's role in it.
These efforts didn't look just one or two years down the road. We focused on the period from 1996 to the year 2000 — the beginning of the twenty-first century. Spearheaded by a core group of key AOPA executives, the resulting AOPA five-year strategic plan was dubbed Team 2000.
Beginning this month, you will hear that term often; many of our AOPA Team 2000 findings will become integral parts of GA Team 2000, the industry-wide program introduced in late March by AOPA and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association for revitalizing general aviation. A major goal of the partnership's members — which includes aircraft manufacturers, associations, aviation businesses, publishers, flight schools, and FBOs — is boosting student pilot starts to ensure a healthy pilot population in the next century.
AOPA helped in past years to lay the foundation for this initiative, and the fruits of many relevant long-term AOPA efforts were harvested during 1995. For example, for years your association led the fight for product liability reform; the General Aviation Revitalization Act, passed in 1994, established an 18-year statute of repose for most general aviation aircraft and components. During 1995, the Cessna Aircraft Company began construction of a new plant in Independence, Kansas, following through on its promise to resume construction of single-engine piston aircraft upon passage of the legislation.
Indeed, AOPA has laid claim to the first new Cessna 172 to roll off the Independence production line and will present it to Sharon L. Hauser of San Jose, California, winner of our 1995 membership sweepstakes. Another sign of revitalized GA manufacturing was bankrupt Piper Aircraft's metamorphosis into The New Piper Aircraft. Last fall I visited Piper's plant in Vero Beach, Florida, and watched enthusiastic employees busily updating the company's proven designs and working on new products for the future.
Looking into the future
AOPA last year conducted landmark research of the pilot population. Pilots were tracked year by year for a seven-year period, to determine pilot retention and dropout rates. Researchers found that each year, 23 percent of private pilots drop out of aviation. From one year to the next, a significant 34.2 percent of student pilots give up on flight training; only 13.9 percent become certificated airmen. These shocking dropout rates show clearly that continued recruitment and enhanced retention of new entrants is critical to the future pilot population.
According to the demographic model that resulted from this research, achieving 100,000 student starts annually is critical to maintaining a stable pilot population. At today's student start and dropout rates, AOPA determined that the U.S. pilot population would drop to 530,000 by the year 2000 — some 100,000 fewer than today — while an effective program to bolster student starts could increase that number to 700,000.
Perceptions of diminished benefits and declining value were cited as factors in shrinking student starts and the increasing pilot dropout rate. The research also indicated that the public's perception of general aviation was actually more positive than expected, and that public concern about GA safety has dropped surprisingly.
Finding future pilots
AOPA did not just crunch pilot population numbers last year. We continued and expanded our successful Project Pilot program, in which volunteer AOPA members nominate prospective pilot candidates and then mentor them through the flight-training process. By the end of 1995, 12,555 mentors were helping to guide 14,877 students toward private pilot certificates.
One of the many Project Pilot participants to earn her certificate last year was my wife, Lois. Many of you heard me discuss her progress at AOPA Pilot Town Meetings around the country. Now it seems that she spends more time flying our Cessna 172 than I do, and we have to decide who gets to log the time when we fly together.
Project Pilot Instructor, which AOPA launched in April 1995, provides well- deserved recognition to our country's certificated flight instructors and acknowledges the important role these men and women play in the life of every general aviation pilot. Ralph Hood, the program's national CFI marketing mentor, provides useful marketing tips and strategies to participating instructors. The program also offers educational materials, a newsletter, career guidance, and PilotsPlus Rewards — which provide videotapes, Project Pilot Instructor caps, and other prizes to instructors, based on the number of students that they enroll in the program.
Instructors were honored at AOPA Expo '95, held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from October 19 to 21. The convention broke all previous records in almost every category. Despite a day and a half of severe weather, our first Expo in the Northeast since 1969 drew an all-time record attendance of 8,921 people.
Regulatory initiatives
Considerable effort was expended last year to defeat regulatory initiatives that would have been detrimental to the health of general aviation, and to preserve airports and airspace critical to GA's utility. AOPA staff, in conjunction with AOPA Legislative Action, moved aggressively to inform general aviation pilots of these proposals and their implications.
The FAA received more than 5,000 comments — most of them negative — on its proposed revision of the Federal Aviation Regulation Part 67 airman medical standards. The association's own 28-page response explained why many of the changes were unnecessary and could not be justified. Our comments to a proposed rewrite of pilot certification standards in FAR parts 61 and 141 were even more extensive.
Other AOPA regulatory initiatives during 1995 addressed airworthiness directives on suspect connecting rod bolts in certain Teledyne Continental aircraft engines, mandatory inspections under Part 91 for older propellers, more efficient access to the National Airspace System through implementation of the Free Flight concept, and efforts to impose localized flight restrictions or increase controlled airspace.
In a major effort to help preserve local airports by gaining community support, we produced and distributed a new videotape titled Flying Friendly. The tape shows pilots what they can do to reduce the impact of aircraft noise on the local community; more than 500 copies have been distributed to federal and state aviation officials and local pilot organizations. Efforts to educate communities on the tremendous value that GA airports provide continued to be a priority last year, and AOPA devoted extra attention to key airports threatened with closure by local officials — including Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, California; Meigs Field in Chicago; and Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Our successful regional representative program was expanded to increase efficiency and prepare for the future. Former Western Regional Representative Jack Kemmerly became the association's new California representative; we appointed Stacy Hamm as rep for a revised Western Region consisting of Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. They, along with our nine other regional representatives, serve as your association's primary advocates for local airport and airspace issues.
Funding the future
AOPA's advocacy efforts, toll-free Pilot Information Center, and other programs cost a lot of money. Membership dues, which have not been raised in five years, do not cover the cost of running your association. On average, each member receives more than $85 annually in services from AOPA.
Additional revenue comes to the association from several sources to help keep dues low and GA strong. AOPA's publications are leaders in the industry and attract substantial advertising. A record $7.8 million in advertising was sold last year in AOPA Pilot magazine and AOPA's Aviation USA airport directory.
More than $7.4 million in revenue accrued last year from AOPA's Certified products and services. AOPA Certified vendors pay your association a small royalty every time an AOPA member utilizes their services. Strong member support of the AOPA Credit Card combined with a new contract with the vendor earned more than $2 million last year. Increasing life insurance premiums for pilots were addressed with a new AOPA Individual Life Insurance Plan from Minnesota Mutual Life.
Several Certified services received major enhancements during 1995; for example, coverage for legal representation regarding medical certification was added to the AOPA Legal Services Plan — and American Eagle Group became the new underwriter for the AOPA Aircraft Insurance Program, improving the program's terms and accessibility. Alamo joined Avis and Hertz last year in the AOPA Rental Car Discount Program. We earn revenue from the sale of aviation charts and AOPA insignia merchandise. Other products include AOPA financial services, AOPA Title and Escrow Service, AOPA Air Power Loan Program, AOPA Travelers Club, and AOPA Aviation AD&D Insurance and health insurance programs.
Preparing for the future
Fast and efficient communications will be a key to your association's continued success in the coming years. Two new state-of-the-art member services introduced during 1995 are helping to fulfill that requirement.
Our AOPA Online electronic information service expanded dramatically on July 1, when it was moved to CompuServe's worldwide network. Vivid icons and lively forum discussions encouraged more than 12,000 members to sign up by year's end. Enhancements have continued since the move, and AOPA Online now offers library files on hundreds of aviation subjects, articles from AOPA Pilot, access to Jeppesen weather information and the Fillup Flyer Fuel Finder fuel pricing service, and weekly online conferences that have featured AOPA staff members as well as celebrities such as airshow pilot Bob Hoover. Our searchable AOPA's Aviation USA airport database is now available on both AOPA Online and a CD-ROM.
Despite the new electronic services, we still logged nearly 100,000 calls to our toll- free member information line. Changes in staffing distribution helped to reduce the average "on hold" time from a minute or more in 1994 to just 16 seconds last year, despite a significantly higher call volume. Our international members are better served by a new multilingual aviation specialist.
I'm continually asking our staff to suggest ways that we can "work smarter, not harder." Your association invested in technology last year when we replaced aging computer equipment with sophisticated new hardware and software. A powerful database allows us to perform in house many tasks that previously were sent out, improving service to our members and saving money.
In the final weeks of 1995, AOPA launched a home page on the Internet's World Wide Web (http://www.aopa.org), primarily designed to introduce non-members to AOPA and the Air Safety Foundation. Your association is watching closely this opportunity for dissemination of information and is evaluating the unique opportunities that it offers.
Electronic efficiency
The speed and flexibility of AOPA Online on CompuServe have dramatically enhanced your association's membership communications efforts.
These services allow AOPA to rapidly distribute important airworthiness directives, service bulletins, notices of proposed FAA rulemaking, final rules, and other timely information. Summaries of lengthy or complicated documents are frequently available to members. Many ADs and other regulatory items are available from AOPA Online before they are issued through traditional governmental channels.
Their value was shown last year when an airworthiness directive grounded many members' airplanes because of inferior connecting rod bolts installed in certain Continental engines. AOPA rapidly distributed important technical and procedural information, minimizing delays in the field.
We capitalized on the immediate nature of electronic communications by establishing an E-mail "comment mailbox" (102475,1613 on CompuServe or [email protected] via the Internet) where members may file formal comments on federal regulatory proposals. Previously, written copies had to be submitted in triplicate. Another advantage of this system is that it allows AOPA to review member comments before forwarding them to the FAA; our members' opinions help to determine the association's position on controversial issues. In its first application, with the FAR Part 61/141 NPRM, AOPA received as many member comments by E-mail as we did by traditional mail.
As we move closer to the next century, I'm convinced that efficiencies such as these will allow your association to continue excelling in its tradition of service to general aviation. Rebuilding the pilot population will be the key.
Your recognition of the challenges that face general aviation is shown by the fact that our membership continues to grow as the pilot population slowly but steadily declines — making your continued membership more critical than ever. For AOPA, the challenge will be to increase our membership in partnership with a growing pilot population — and I can't think of a better challenge for your association as we enter the next century.
1995 AOPA Legislative Action Annual Report
Ensuring general aviation's future, one bill at a time
By Phil Boyer, President
Minding the Legislative Store
During 1995, AOPA Legislative Action faced some of the most formidable challenges in the association's history. If it was implemented, a Clinton administration proposal to institute user fees had the potential to cripple general aviation.
AOPA Legislative Action advanced our plan to reform the FAA within government and helped to defeat plans for a corporatized air traffic control system. During congressional hearings in February we presented in detail our five-point plan for reforming the FAA as an independent agency within government. At those same hearings Representative Jim Lightfoot (R-IA) announced that he would introduce FAA reform legislation based on our plan. Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), long a friend of general aviation, soon introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Senate, with the help of Senator Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS).
In June, Representative John Duncan (R-TN), chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, began working on his own FAA reform bill. His efforts soon were combined with Lightfoot's, keeping AOPA's five major points, adding a new managing board for the FAA, and taking the Airport and Airway Trust Fund off budget. AOPA Legislative Action has endorsed the Duncan-Lightfoot bill and opposes a competing measure proposed by Senate aviation subcommittee chairman John S. McCain (R-AZ), which advocates substantial user fees for FAA services.
We conducted three targeted grassroots campaigns involving AOPA members and testified before various committees considering FAA reform legislation. One telephone campaign generated more than 5,000 member contacts with legislators; another effort sent more than 2,000 letters opposing user fees to members of the Senate aviation subcommittee. Our goal with these targeted efforts — which are much less expensive than mailings to the full membership — is to defeat objectionable measures while they're still in committee. To oppose user fees Legislative Action also used our VIP Program, a database of AOPA members with close connections to members of Congress.
By the middle of the year we had soundly defeated the administration's proposal to corporatize the U.S. air traffic control system, helping to ensure general aviation's future — although proposals to impose onerous user fees remain alive. A significant victory in our efforts to reform the FAA came when Congress passed the heart of AOPA's plan, which emphasized reform of the FAA within government.
In our annual testimony about the FAA's budget, Legislative Action addressed the importance of funding for the Airport Improvement Program, highlighted the need to accelerate the creation of new GPS non-precision approaches, and emphasized the necessity of continued funding for loran. Also addressed were weather modernization programs, development of unleaded fuels for GA aircraft, and elimination of FCC fees for aircraft owners.
Legislative efforts were not limited to national issues last year. The implementation of a new computerized legislation tracking system allows our staff to be proactive rather than reactive and helped Legislative Action to defeat bills in several state legislatures that would have imposed significant cost burdens on pilots. In Colorado, for example, CFIs were exempted from a $2,000 state registration fee and a $750 annual renewal fee. Newly required liability disclosure statements will protect aircraft renters in New York. In Nevada, the fuel tax rate was slashed by more than 50 percent. Legislation in Oregon will protect 400 airports from urban encroachment. And in Indiana, new real estate disclosure forms will benefit airports.
Growing membership in AOPA Legislative Action has demonstrated the value of a committed and activist population in response to calls for both opinion and political action. In addition, record-setting financial support of our political action committee enables us to support candidates who appreciate and support general aviation. During the next five years, Legislative Action will continue its efforts to facilitate a general aviation renaissance and prepare for the next century.
1995 AOPA Air Safety Foundation Annual Report
By Bruce Landsberg, Executive Director
Reaching Out to Pilots
More pilots attending more safety programs than ever before Preventing accidents through pilot education is the AOPA Air Safety Foundation's mission. To reach that goal ASF offered more safety programs than ever last year — and we continued to break attendance records for both safety seminars and our Flight Instructor Recertification Clinics (FIRCs).
The foundation tracks the annual accident activity of fixed-wing general aviation aircraft weighing less than 12,500 pounds, and we find that this information gives us a pretty good idea of how well we're doing.
The information is compiled each year to create the Joseph T. Nall General Aviation Safety Report, named for the general aviation pilot and flight instructor, attorney, and National Transportation Safety Board member who died in 1989 as a passenger in an airplane accident in Venezuela. The greatly expanded 1995 edition of the report, sponsored by the Phoebe W. Haas Charitable Trust, provided mixed news. Both the total number and number of fatal GA accidents in 1994 were the lowest since 1938, the first year accident statistics were recorded. Accident rates were calculated to be slightly higher, because the FAA reduced its estimate of the number of GA hours flown during the year. This shows us that GA's improvement in safety is leveling off.
In an effort to drive accident rates even lower, ASF last year held more than 200 seminars — with a visit to almost every state. More than 36,000 pilots came to hear some innovative programs. This tops the record set in 1993 by our highly successful Operation Airspace seminars. The FAA's Aviation Safety Program provided logistical support for these programs; major donors included Cessna Aircraft Company, the Hilton Foundation, Ford Motor Company, and Sporty's Pilot Shop.
Multiple topics were offered during seminars last year, including:
- Tactical Weather Workshop, an acclaimed series designed to help pilots to learn about seasonal weather challenges.
- GPS: Magic Box or Pandora's Box? brought the new world of GPS to thousands of pilots, helping to explain basics of IFR GPS approaches.
- Seminar-in-a-Box was introduced during 1995 to help to deliver ASF's safety message to pilots in rural areas where a large seminar would be impractical. More than 3,000 pilots participated in programs made possible by this new series.
- ASF's famed Pinch Hitter course was offered in 27 locations to provide flying companions with encouragement and practical advice on how to enjoy flight in general aviation aircraft. The program teaches emergency flying skills.
Our Emil Buehler Center for Aviation Safety Database, the most extensive repository of GA safety statistics outside of the federal government's, was key last year to another ASF program. Four new models and a revision — an annual record — were added to the list of aircraft that ASF has studied to determine high-risk areas and provide suggestions for avoiding them. New safety reviews were published for the Beech Baron, Mooney M20 series, and three popular Cessna models: the 172, 182, and 210/T210. Contributions from the Murdock Trust, the Hilton Foundation, and the McCaw Foundation supported this effort.
New ground for the future was broken last year when ASF undertook a new area of flight evaluation in a cooperative project with Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Lab. ASF evaluated an installation in a Cessna 172 cockpit that, via data link, provided graphical and textual weather information and traffic advisories. Sponsored by the FAA and flown during the evaluation period by FAA Administrator David Hinson, this technology holds considerable promise for simplifying in-flight decision making. The foundation identified several areas in which human factors could be improved, and looks forward to evaluating a laptop display of the information later this year.
Also during 1995, ASF participated in dialogues with the FAA on flight standards, air traffic, flight service, and other issues. The simplification of VFR charting was a key discussion point last year, along with low-cost flight simulation using personal computer flight training devices.
ASF awarded two scholarships to Florida Institute of Technology students pursuing aviation careers; the 1995 McAllister and Burnside memorial scholarships were presented to Daniel C. Seluk and Jason Stallings, respectively. During AOPA Expo in Atlantic City, New Jersey, ASF — in partnership with other industry sponsors — recognized Lyn Carlson, the general aviation flight instructor of the year, and David Thissell, the GA maintenance technician of the year. The manager of the FAA's Airspace Rules and Aeronautical Information Division, Hal Becker, received ASF's Distinguished Service Award for outstanding service to general aviation. The foundation believes that it is important to recognize and encourage those who work hard to make general aviation the vital and rewarding activity that it is.
Najeeb Halaby was named chairman of ASF's board of visitors last year. The board is comprised of distinguished aviators and aviation professionals from all areas of aviation who volunteer their experience and knowledge to enhance both the mission and funding of the non-profit foundation. An active GA pilot, Halaby is a former Naval aviator, FAA administrator, and Pan American World Airways CEO.
More than 8,000 new donors joined the ranks of pilots who supported ASF with tax-deductible contributions. We worked hard to control our expenses so that more of your donated dollar was directed into pilot education programs, and a new vice president for foundation development spearheaded fund-raising efforts. A deferred giving program was initiated, along with several new endowments to provide donors with an opportunity to make lasting contributions to general aviation safety.
Special thanks go to our Hat-in-the-Ring Society members, each of whom donated $1,000 or more to ASF. Every member and pilot contribution is appreciated; it is only with your continued support that the foundation can expand its efforts to improve general aviation safety in the future.
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