President's Position: Uncharted territory

Restaurants and bars are closed, sports seasons have been canceled, international travel is at a standstill, employees who can are working from home, and families are left to stock up on food and self-quarantine. Even the happiest place on Earth isn’t looking too happy these days as nearly all entertainment venues in the United States have closed their doors. COVID-19 has uprooted the life of Americans in 2020 as the highly contagious virus sweeps the globe.

We are navigating uncharted territory—unlike anything I have seen in my life. We hear regularly from members who are expressing concern about the state of general aviation and the implications of this pandemic. It’s leaving many of us, including me, with questions and uncertainty. However, trying times are what unify us as a nation, as AOPA members, and as pilots. For 81 years, we have remained true to AOPA’s mission to protect your freedom to fly, and I want to assure our members that we will emerge through this and come out stronger than ever. As long as AOPA is operating, GA will always have a voice.

At this writing, we’ve seen numerous schools and businesses close in the past month. The stock market saw its worst percentage drop since 1987, and we are facing economic upheaval, but the airline industry is among the hardest hit. According to predictions by the International Air Transportation Association, global airlines are set to lose $113 billion in sales as the virus spreads. Many have taken drastic steps to cut these losses. Delta Air Lines is grounding 600 of its aircraft fleet, American Airlines is cutting international flights by 75 percent until May and reducing its domestic capacity in April by 20 percent, and United Airlines canceled 60 percent of its U.S. flights in the coming months. The turmoil has left the airlines seeking financial assistance in the form of a government bailout just months after record-setting profits and an unprecedented demand for air travel. But it’s not just about the bottom line, this crisis is affecting hardworking people, many of them AOPA members: pilots, flight attendants, gate agents, and ground operations crews who keep our aviation ecosystem running every day.

Should the situation worsen, the White House has been in talks of a possible domestic travel ban, although whether that would include GA is unknown as this issue goes to press in mid-March. Unforeseen circumstances like this have plagued us only once before in my lifetime, 9/11—the fateful day in which all air traffic was grounded, leaving pilots stranded and operations in chaos.

During that time, AOPA played a crucial role in getting aircraft airborne again, thanks to staff who essentially camped at FAA headquarters for weeks, advocating for GA in the aftermath of the attacks. Amid the heightened security and state of confusion, restrictions on aviation began to gradually lift. AOPA was a key factor in communicating information about the status of the airspace system—and most important, the organization worked with the Department of Defense, the FAA, and other security interests to get GA aircraft flying again immediately.

No one could have predicted how drastically COVID-19 would change the industry in just a few short weeks. We’ve seen it trickle down to our own events with AOPA having to postpone the R.A. “Bob” Hoover Trophy awards ceremony and Go Wheels Up! Texas featuring the AOPA Fly-In at San Marcos, in addition to canceling many of our safety seminars and Rusty Pilots programs. The effects on GA are also beginning to emerge with some flight schools temporarily shutting down, and checkrides being postponed. Many segments of GA are paused as we wait out this pandemic.

One thing we do know is that GA is resilient in times of disaster. As a nation, we’ve been through challenging times and our industry is always there to lend a helping hand. In natural disasters like hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, and now pandemics, we stand united.

AOPA and several industry groups have been proactive in offering transport for medical supplies, testing equipment, organ transplants, and key personnel and patients to more than 5,000 general aviation airports. In a March letter to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao (see “AOPA Action,” p. 12), we have made it clear that GA and business aviation stand ready to assist in any way during this national emergency—once again proving the vitality of our industry.

We’ve been through dark days before, and I’m sure we will face challenges again, although hopefully not to this extent. Although it’s hard to see the finish line, the people who make up general aviation will support one another, and we will come out on top and be back to business as usual soon. Of that I am certain.

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