Action in the states: Jim Coon to lead IAOPA

A few years after the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was established, AOPA leaders in Australia, Canada, the Philippines, South Africa, and the United States realized that general aviation interests were not given enough attention in ICAO. Those five AOPAs founded IAOPA in 1962, “to facilitate the movement of general aviation aircraft internationally.”

In 1964 IAOPA was accepted as the sole general aviation observer to ICAO proceedings, a distinction the organization maintains to this day.

As senior vice president of government affairs, Coon is responsible for the implementation of AOPA’s political, legislative, and regulatory initiatives before Congress, federal agencies, and state legislatures. He has more than three decades of experience working with Congress and the aviation industry. Coon has held the role of staff director for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and majority staff director for the House aviation subcommittee. He has also served in leadership roles for the National Air Transportation Association, The Boeing Company, and the Air Transport Association (now A4A).

Web: iaopa.org

Accomplishments of IAOPA

IAOPA has had a significant impact on world aviation. Among its accomplishments, IAOPA worked with international organizations to:

• Mandate requirements for improved general aviation facilities at international airports.
• Validate private pilot licenses by foreign countries.
• Remove GA from airline requirements and develop international operational guidelines specifically for general aviation.
• Revise the world airspace classification system to provide for general aviation operations.
• Restructure and improve the ICAO pilot licensing requirements.
• Permit VFR and mixed VFR/IFR operations within controlled airspace.
• Reduce the impact of avionics and other equipment requirements for general aviation aircraft to operate within controlled airspace.
• Help plan the Future Air Navigation System to the advantage of general aviation.
• Educate world aviation bodies about general aviation and aerial work activities.
• Eliminate restrictions to the use of airports and airspace.

In addition to regular participation at ICAO headquarters and regional meetings, IAOPA represents the interests of general aviation before the European Union, Eurocontrol, European Civil Aviation Conference, and Joint Aviation Authorities.

Web: iaopa.org

Representing 470,000 general aviation and pilots and owners in 82 nations, AOPAs are established in the following countries:

Groups to help fight coronavirus

With the threat of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, AOPA and four other aviation organizations announced that they stand ready to bring their resources into the fight to help mitigate the many challenges posed by the public health threat, which has spread disease worldwide and ground the largest economies to a virtual halt.

The five aviation industry groups made known their availability “to assist in any way possible” in a letter to Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao. In addition to AOPA, the groups signing the letter included the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Helicopter Association International, National Air Transportation Association, and National Business Aviation Association.

The general and business aviation industries are composed of “a diverse fleet, capable of rapidly responding to needs in every part of the country and transporting time-sensitive supplies, medical and testing equipment, organ transplants, and key personnel and patients to over 5,000 general aviation airports,” the letter said.

The letter informed Chao that entities the five associations represent have actively participated in past disaster relief, carrying out missions including evacuation flights, delivering supplies, and surveying damage—the efforts facilitated by their “considerable experience operating during emergencies.” 

In the current crisis, they wrote, the general aviation industry has been proactive, distributing key information about coronavirus response needs to members, disseminating best practices, and making subject-matter experts available for consultation.