President's Perspective

Michigan win important to pilots everywhere

Most student pilots think that the hardest thing about learning to fly is learning to land. Every pilot has gone through the frustration of trying to get two good landings in a row. It seems that no matter how hard you try you bounce one, float the next, and then bungle it so badly on the third that you have to go around. Frustration is perhaps too mild a word for it.

But learning to land is not the greatest barrier to learning to fly. The greatest barriers are those that stop someone from ever taking that first lesson, or the barriers that seem to make flying so complicated that it is no longer any fun. That's why AOPA's recent "win" in Michigan on student pilot background checks is so important.

We all have a stake in breaking down barriers to flying. The health of the entire general aviation industry is tied to the number of new student pilots. And our ability to continue to enjoy the freedom of flight is entirely dependent upon our maintaining a critical mass of active pilots.

It's probably no secret to you that the majority of our fellow citizens know very little about general aviation and they care even less. For the most part, they won't get involved. But if something stirs up that majority, they can create real problems for us. Or rather, the politicians, sensing that they might have an issue that will "play" to the voters, can seize on something involving general aviation and then "do something" to "solve the problem" for the people. The French observer of the American political process, Alexis de Tocqueville, called it the "tyranny of the majority."

Pilots will never be a majority in America. But we can still be politically effective as long as we have enough numbers and band together to pursue common causes. What happened in Michigan is a perfect illustration of all of this.

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, politicians in several states took aim at student pilots. The terrorists, after all, had been student pilots and learned how to fly in U.S. flight schools. The majority demanded that something be done to prevent another similar attack. And some politicians thought they had found an easy solution to satisfy the majority: Make it harder for someone to become a student pilot.

In May 2002, the Michigan legislature passed a law requiring a criminal background check for anyone seeking a new pilot certificate or rating. If you wanted to start taking flight lessons-or you wanted to get a new rating or certificate-you first had to fill out Felony Disclosure Form RI-8, which includes your Social Security number. Then you had to go stand in line with accused criminals at your local police station or state police post to be fingerprinted.

As if the costs to learn to fly weren't already high enough, you were charged $54 for the processing of this identity check. The form was mailed to the state police and then you could begin flying-provisionally-until the form was processed, which could take as long as 45 days.

Talk about a barrier to learning to fly!

AOPA, which had been battling the law from the beginning, launched new attacks against this barrier. First we filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the Michigan law. In essence, the state was trying to regulate the airspace and who could fly in it. But that authority belongs to the federal government alone, specifically the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration. (Both the FAA and TSA supported us in the lawsuit, by the way.)

But we also went back to the Michigan legislature looking for a more reasoned approach. The power of AOPA's more than 400,000 members showed that we were a political force to be reckoned with. We worked tirelessly behind the scenes with responsible lawmakers, led by Michigan state Representative Stephen Ehardt (R-83rd District), and helped craft a bill that repealed the felony background checks and substituted a number of common-sense security requirements for flight schools. Those requirements included procedures to identify a student pilot or renter, controlling aircraft keys, and displaying signs requesting pilots to report suspicious activities. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) signed the new law in August.

That was a victory for pilots everywhere, not just in Michigan. It helped reinforce the principle that aviation must be regulated on the national level. It was a shot across the bow of other states and localities that would try to inappropriately regulate aviation.

And we removed a barrier to learning to fly. That's what I call a perfect landing.