AOPA advocacy fights for GA in 2025, looks ahead to 2026

ATC modernization, not privatization

ATC modernization is a major focus not only for AOPA, but for the aviation industry as a whole—and it represents one of the most significant wins for GA in recent years. After years of division over efforts to privatize the nation’s air traffic control system, AOPA spent more than a year working behind the scenes to set aside the privatization fight—a fight which would have resulted in nothing being accomplished—and focusing instead on the modernization of the existing system. In turn, virtually every sector of the aviation industry joined in what is now called the Modern Skies Coalition.

Earlier in the year, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a major overhaul of the U.S. ATC system and made clear that privatization would not be part of the effort. The coalition—now made up of more than 50 companies and organizations across the industry, including AOPA—has strongly supported these efforts from the start, and significant progress has been made.

In July, $12.5 billion was allocated toward modernization. In December, Peraton, a next-generation technology and national security company, was named the “prime integrator” and will be responsible for designing, testing, deploying, and maintaining a “Brand New Air Traffic Control System.”

That work will include replacing old radar and communication systems, building several new facilities, and much more. The “ambitious” timeline calls for completing the work by the end of 2028, and it will require $20 billion in additional funding.

MOSAIC

In July, the FAA released the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) final rule, which dramatically improved the privileges for sport pilots and the certification of new aircraft.

The changes affecting sport pilots went into effect in October, while the changes affecting light-sport category aircraft won’t go into effect until July 2026.

While AOPA has numerous resources to help pilots understand these changes, what has not been discussed much is how AOPA and the aviation industry helped shape the final rule.

AOPA worked closely with the entire GA industry to submit comments, which were called out dozens of times in the final rule, including where the FAA explained its rationale for raising the stall speeds.

The most prominent example of this is in the FAA’s notice of proposed rulemaking, released in 2023, which proposed raising the stall speed for both sport pilots and the new light-sport category aircraft to 54 knots calibrated airspeed with flaps retracted. However, the final rule released in 2025 raised the stall speed to 59 knots CAS with flaps retracted for sport pilots and 61 knots CAS with flaps extended for light-sport category aircraft.

For sport pilots, this is important because a 54-knot stall speed would have only included some of the popular four-seat aircraft that the FAA said sport pilots would be able to safely fly. The 59-knot stall speed in the final rule encompasses the vast majority of these aircraft.

Meanwhile, a 54-knot stall speed for light-sport category aircraft—which the FAA wants to appeal to sport pilots and pilots holding higher certificates—would have limited their performance and led to fewer aircraft being made that appeal to sport pilots (or to pilots with higher certificates who wish to exercise sport pilot privileges). The FAA said the 61-knot stall speed (in a landing configuration) in the final rule “will increase safety by accommodating airplane designs for heavier weight operations, which could result in a reduction in the occurrence of overweight takeoffs.”

FAA/ATC shutdown funding

A top priority for the aviation industry in 2026 will be to help ensure that air traffic controllers are paid during future government shutdowns, as funding is currently set to run out on January 30.

AOPA has endorsed bills from members of Congress that would fund the FAA and ATC in two different ways.

The Aviation Funding Stability Act calls for temporarily drawing on the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, which already funds most regular FAA operations and is funded by revenue from aviation excise taxes on airline tickets, cargo, and GA fuel.

The Aviation Funding Solvency Act would instead draw from the Aviation Insurance Revolving Fund, which was originally established to cover war risk insurance claims by airlines participating in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, and has gone unused for years. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the bill on December 18, and the legislation now heads to the full House for consideration.

ADS-B misuse

Support is growing among pilots and lawmakers to stop the misuse of ADS-B. More than 100 airports have started charging fees—usually landing fees—to pilots using ADS-B technology.

When the ADS-B mandate went into effect in 2020, the FAA said that ADS-B technology was only intended for safety and airspace efficiency purposes. Five years later, AOPA has heard from pilots who regularly report new fees being implemented at airports across the country.

In June, Rep. Bob Onder (R-Mo.) and Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) introduced the Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act, which would prohibit the use of ADS-B to charge fees.

AOPA President Darren Pleasance recently noted that Onder's bill “would enhance safety and privacy by prohibiting the use of ADS-B collision avoidance technology for fee collection.”

He added, “When the legislation becomes law, airports will still be able to collect fees—they just couldn’t use this safety technology to do so. States are also considering legislation to prohibit this practice, but [this] bill would establish a national policy so as to avoid a patchwork of laws across the country.”

State lawmakers in several states have introduced similar bills, but only one has become law. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill in May that prohibits the use of ADS-B data to assess landing fees on GA (FAR Part 91) flights in aircraft that weigh no more than 9,000 lbs.

Medical certification

The FAA released updates to MedXPress to help applicants better prepare before visiting their aviation medical examiner. At the same time, AOPA and other stakeholders agreed to help and put together a comprehensive checklist to help make sure pilots have everything the FAA requires ready before submitting a medical application.

Mental health has also been a major topic of discussion this year. The Mental Health in Aviation Act passed the House in September but has not passed the Senate yet. It would give pilots more options to seek care and reduce the stigma around mental health treatment, a change that is badly needed.

Separately, the Aviation Medication Transparency Act would for the first time require the FAA to provide pilots with a list of medications they can and cannot take.

Earlier this month, Pleasance sent a letter to two key senators who are working in a bipartisan way to help these bills become law, expressing AOPA's support for these important pieces of legislation.

Notam modernization

Notams are about to get a major upgrade. The FAA has been working for several years to modernize the antiquated system that issues them. The issue came to the forefront in January 2023 when the existing notam system went down.

The new system will be a completely modern, commercially run, and cloud-based service simply called the NOTAM Management Service (NMS). It’s designed to provide a far more stable backbone and to allow for a variety of new enhancements coming in the near future.

NMS is already in place, and both notam creators and third-party vendors are scheduled to be fully transitioned to it by March. AOPA recently helped the FAA test its new public-facing NOTAM Search webpage to make sure it meets the needs of pilots.

By mid-2026, additional discussions between the FAA and industry will begin, addressing a variety of notam policy issues aimed at improving the information conveyed and how notams look and feel to end users.

Regional wins

In addition to AOPA’s work in Washington, D.C., a team of regional managers works at the state and local level s handling a wide variety of issues.

Along with the Montana bill banning ADS-B-derived fees for most GA pilots, here are a few more examples of their wins in 2025:

• In Arizona, the Safford Municipal Airport rolled back its ADS-B landing fees after getting a lot of pushback from local pilots.
• The state of Ohio is investing more than ever in its aviation infrastructure—more than doubling overall funding.
• In Florida, AOPA successfully fought to keep several GA airports open after local officials wanted to close them.
• Also in Florida, AOPA successfully led efforts to deter two big GA airports—Orlando Executive and Naples Municipal—from implementing landing fees.

FAA reauthorization

The FAA’s most recent authorization bill, which funds the agency through 2028, was passed in 2024. For the first time, it contained an entire section with provisions that benefit GA. AOPA was instrumental in its development.

One of the most notable accomplishments in the reauthorization bill was the expansion of BasicMed, which allows pilots to fly heavier aircraft than before, with greater numbers of seats and passengers. It's also worth noting that since BasicMed was first introduced in 2017, more than 90,000 pilots have qualified and flown safely under its privileges.

The reauthorization bill also guaranteed the availability of 100LL through at least 2030 as work continues toward high-octane unleaded alternatives, greatly strengthened pilot privacy, increased the amount of GA airport grants by 50 percent, and helped prevent the closure of grant-obligated airports.

AOPA recognition

AOPA’s advocacy efforts have also been independently highlighted by two major organizations.

In October, AOPA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Advocacy Jim Coon was named a Top Lobbyist by the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics (NILE), which recognizes “exceptional lobbying professionals through a strictly merit-based process.”

According to NILE, “With over 50,000 state and federal lobbyists across the country, being named one of only 100 Top Lobbyists is an impressive and well-earned accomplishment that highlights the extraordinary contributions of these individuals to the profession.”

In December, Coon was also named a Top Lobbyist by The Hill, which recognizes those who “have made measurable impacts on the course of policy and politics, whether for corporations, small businesses, local governments, nonprofits, unions or trade associations.”

Looking ahead to 2026

From further implementation of MOSAIC, continued progress on ATC modernization, our continued strong support for the Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act to other topics such as the transition to unleaded fuel , AOPA will continue to advocate on behalf of all GA pilots—in Washington, D.C.; at statehouses; and at city and town halls across the country.