Why were airlines allowed to fly first and with fewer restrictions? There were several reasons, but underlying them all is one simple fact: Millions of Americans depend on airlines for travel, and many of them are registered voters. There is strength in numbers.
In the fight for equal treatment of GA, AOPA has a proud history of focusing the strength of our membership (currently 375,000, more than half of all active pilots) where it will do the most good. That GA flying has been restored at all after September 11 is a tribute to the power of individual voices working together for the collective good. As Benjamin Franklin observed at the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, "We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."
More than a billion dollars of aviation personal property has been either restricted or rendered useless by government edict, and flight training in many areas has withered. Many flight schools - primarily the smaller schools near large cities that form the backbone of aviation training in this country - have been driven out of business.
If not AOPA membership now, then when?
Starting just hours after the September 11 tragedy and subsequent grounding of GA, AOPA staffers worked long days and into the nights, keeping pilots informed of restrictions that changed daily, sometimes hourly. And, when the time was right, we called members to action, showering elected officials with thousands of calls, letters, and e-mails. The single most important element of AOPA's response was AOPA Online. In the first week alone, pilots and the general public referred to AOPA's constantly updated home page more than 2 million times. The staff of AOPA ePilot, our weekly e-mail newsletter to AOPA members, produced multiple special editions during the first month to provide the latest information.
With statistics quickly gathered from members, we pointed out to government officials that the blanket prohibition had grounded some 41,800 GA aircraft at 282 airports inside the 30 "enhanced Class B airspace" areas. I testified before Congress September 25 on the economic strangulation of flight schools in these areas, and we worked hard to get GA flight training restored.
To facilitate up-to-the-minute information, AOPA stationed our vice president of air traffic services in FAA headquarters to ensure that the FAA understood the needs of GA pilots and notams issued were clear and considered all possible circumstances.
The AOPA Legislative Affairs staff spent several days on Capitol Hill enlisting support from congressmen for lifting the prohibitions on VFR in enhanced Class B airspace, and working with congressional staff to craft a bill (H.R.3007) to provide economic relief to affected small businesses like flight schools.
I spent more days and nights on the phone with both Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey than they wish I had, arming them with up-to-the-minute facts and suggestions that would help our country's National Security Council officials understand the need for restoration of GA flying. Other AOPA staffers worked directly with top FAA air traffic control officials.
As GA aircraft inside the enhanced Class B sat in their tiedown spaces, the AOPA Insurance Agency asked five major aviation insurance companies to credit policyholders with a 10-percent reduction in the annual premium since risk is reduced when aircraft can't fly.
AOPA Communications staff responded quickly to erroneous information, such as an op-ed piece in The Washington Post in late September, in which a North Carolina security consultant decried the awful risk posed by "...the small, private aircraft that clog our skies and populate small, often remote, countryside airports." Naturally, we immediately set the record straight.
AOPA continues to work with the FAA, the DOT, and legislators to restore the aviation system, and as I write this, there is reason for optimism. But don't forget Ben Franklin.
AOPA membership: If not now, when?
Related Articles
