President's Perspective

The benefits of your AOPA membership

When five pilots founded the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association in 1939 they had the vision to set forth some simple principles that have guided this organization extremely well over the years. Their original mandate was that the new association should keep flying safe, affordable, and fun for its pilot and aircraft-owner members.

Those three words have served us well for nearly seven decades. Because so many of us are pilots, the word affordable resonates very strongly with AOPA staff. We can't control the cost of fuel, the price of airplanes, or other operating expenses, but we pull out all the stops on the factors we can influence.

As you know, we've been involved in a protracted battle to keep user fees out of the air traffic system and as I write this, the status of long-term FAA funding is far from clear (see "FAA Funding Debate: Waiting on a Bill," p. 14). We have watched as user fees in other countries--which often started small, but quickly grew--priced many pilots right out of aviation. (You can get the latest updates any time at www.aopa.org/FAAFundingDebate.) Every day, we work on countless other issues--at the national, state, and local levels--that have the potential to increase your cost of flying.

We've also worked hard to keep AOPA membership dues low. Since I was named the association's president in late 1990, our annual dues have remained $39--even as our many services and member benefits have dramatically increased. Considering inflation alone, that $39 in 1990 should be $62.04 today. And before you ask, no, I am not setting you up for an upcoming dues increase.

It's not magic that allows us to hold the line on membership dues. We've been able to do this for two reasons--first, our membership has grown to more than 413,000 pilots; and second, our non-dues revenue has more than doubled. The latter includes the advertising in AOPA Flight Training and AOPA Pilot magazines, plus the AOPA Member Products that many of you support, such as the AOPA credit cards, Flight Training Funds, and other financial offerings; the AOPA Legal Services Plan; the AOPA Insurance Agency; and many other products.

These products, provided by top-notch partners, are selected because we believe they offer special value, and most are directly related to your aviation activities. Whenever you use an AOPA Member Product, our partner returns a royalty to AOPA--at no cost to you--that we can invest in advocacy and other member services.

Believe it or not, one of my biggest challenges is communicating to members the many benefits that come with AOPA membership. Your association is much more than general aviation's strongest political and regulatory advocate, and a great monthly magazine.

You're no doubt familiar with AOPA Flight Training Online. However, if you haven't recently visited AOPA Online--the association's primary online presence--you should. A major redesign of this site was launched only a few weeks ago, significantly improving navigation and the speed with which you can access its plethora of aviation information. Continually updated, it is backed up by some 50,000 pages of content that should provide the answer to most any aviation question, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The site includes AOPA's Airport Directory Online, which now includes aviation fuel prices for many airports. You can research avgas prices, provided by our dedicated AOPA Airport Support Network volunteers (see "President's Perspective: Protecting Our Airports," November 2007 AOPA Flight Training), before you plan a trip, and you may find that a slight change of routing can save you quite a bit of money when you top off the tanks.

Check out AOPA's Real-Time Flight Planner, an excellent flight-planning tool that you can use after your flight instructor has taught you the traditional planning methods--or as a validation of your calculations, and even as a last-minute check for pop-up temporary flight restrictions. AOPA's TurboMedical^� allows you to answer the airman medical application's questions before you get to the aviation medical examiner's office, and tells you ahead of time if one of your answers may pose a problem. Visit the AOPA Air Safety Foundation's pages and learn from one of nearly 20 interactive online courses.

Call the AOPA Pilot Information Center at 800/USA-AOPA (872-2672) between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern on weekdays. Ask this dedicated group of specialists any aviation question; if they don't know the answer they will research it for you. If you prefer, send an e-mail 24/7. The same phone number connects you with our Membership Assistance Center, for address or e-mail changes, Automatic Annual Renewal enrollment, or other service issues that might arise.

All of these resources are available with your AOPA membership, including student pilots receiving the free six-month introductory membership. Use them regularly to help keep your flying safe, affordable, and fun.