AOPA IS CREATING a national network of flying clubs as part of a long-term initiative to facilitate flying club growth.
As the aviation industry seeks to reverse rising costs and diminishing pilot numbers, flying clubs offer a piece of the puzzle: The organizations offer afford- ability, community, quality instruction, an entry (or re-entry) point to aviation, and a viable business model. The flying club initiative, built on extensive research, also promotes flying clubs and helps new clubs get started, with a goal of increasing the number of clubs nationwide from 661 to 1,000 in five years. Flying clubs will be a big part of AOPA’s new Center to Advance the Pilot Community, created to help build the pilot population, said Adam Smith, senior vice president of the center. “It’s a very healthy part of the aviation ecosystem,” he said, and AOPA wants to nurture and grow it. Organizing a network of the clubs will allow them to share information and resources. “Right now, I see wonderful work going on in local flying clubs in their individual communities, but it’s all in that local silo,” Smith said. AOPA will invite existing clubs to join the network; mem- bers will agree to a statement of values, but there will be no cost to participate. The association has rolled out an online flying club finder and Facebook group. It also has reached out to 12 clubs of various sizes to serve as “Pathfinder Clubs.” Long term, AOPA intends to build and grow the network, and is looking into areas where it could offer assistance to flying clubs, including software that would reduce the administrative burden for club leaders, who are often volunteers; simplifying the insurance process for clubs; and establishing reciprocity agreements that allow pilots to go from club to club.
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