Good evening – I’d like to address some of the most common themes that have surfaced on this thread over the last couple of days.
Flights of AOPA’s Citation (N4GA) are not blocked. You can see every single flight made by 4GA on FlightAware.com. In addition, Mark is using the Citation differently than it has been in the past. We’re flying ourselves when it makes the most sense, but we’re also taking the airlines more. Mark frequently travels by airline when the distances, location of stops, or number of travelers make that the smart decision. AOPA has sold the Caravan. In addition, we have two 172s and a 182. We use these aircraft for flight training, media flights, educational flights for government officials and elected officials, and to attend fly-ins and meetings in the Eastern region.
Some of you have referred to finding other sources of revenue besides dues. Non-dues revenue is important to AOPA and always has been. Member dues account for about 30% of our operating costs. The rest comes from other sources like advertising, sponsorships, and returns on the AOPA credit card. In the economic downturn, advertising has fallen across all categories. General aviation has been hit particularly hard, and GA companies have cut their ad spending dramatically. AOPA is lucky to continue to receive a big portion of GA advertising spending in our magazines, newsletters, and online, but we can’t ignore the fact that revenues are down.
The credit environment has also changed significantly in recent years (accounted for in the “royalties” category in the audited financial posted on AOPA.org), and we simply aren’t able to get the favorable returns on the AOPA credit card that we have in the past. This is true for “affinity cards” across all industries. In fact our revenue from the credit card is down close to 50% - over $5M.
So while these sources of non-dues revenue continue to be watched and managed closely, Mark Baker also recognized early that we needed to cut costs: Members said they wanted less mail and we listened, cutting our direct mail postage costs by close to 50%. We’ve also reduced staff travel and changed the way we use GA aircraft to maximize our efficiency – as I mentioned above. And we’ve reduced our staffing expenses, cutting payroll by $500,000 in 2014 and permanently eliminating four executive positions. We’ve even changed the way we handle our legal work, bringing much of it in house, to save money.
Someone mentioned the Colorado Pilots Association – Mark will be doing a PTH there on Saturday, June 21. We will be picking new locations for the 2015 regionals and I assure you that we will be in the West. I was born, raised and learned to fly in Montana. I love the West and as the lead of the events and outreach group, we didn’t purposely avoid the the Mountain states or Midwest– we love those states…especially me. There are many, many factors that go into choosing locations for these regional fly-ins. We have to be able to land and park up to 500 airplanes, park over 500 cars and accommodate over 2000 people. The airports must first be of a size to accommodate the fly-in, then we must consider weather patterns, airport improvement projects and we have to work around major GA events and other local fly-ins. It is a complicated chess game and we take location selection very seriously.
AOPA’s number one priority and Mark’s number one priority is our advocacy efforts. Its why we exist. I referred to Santa Monica in an early post in reference to how we responsibly use the reserve – which also gains investment revenue. A poster took my response and categorized it as a bizav issue only and made the assertion that we spend all our advocacy efforts on “high-end” GA issues. That is not at all the case. First, please research the activity at Santa Monica – the whole south end of the airport is light GA - we are trying to ensure that light GA remains an active and thriving part of SMO. If SMO closed, it would set a dangerous precedent for many other U.S. GA airports that are operating under the same conditions.
The most important point here is that AOPA’s entire advocacy department spends day in and day out on the following issues – none of which I would consider “bizav” issues:
AOPA is leading the ongoing efforts to reform the 3rd class medical. Within weeks of Mark starting last fall, he vowed to get the FAA to make a move on this issue and he has done just that. We aren’t there yet, but this is AOPA’s number 1 advocacy issue. Please visit our website for nearly weekly coverage/updates on this issue. Join us at one of the fly-ins or see us at AirVenture and sign our petition. There are bills in the House and Senate on 3rd class medical reform right now and the FAA has vowed to undertake rulemaking on this issue. We will push and push until we get it across the finish line. Our latest report:
http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2014/May/29/Support-for-medical-reform-grows.aspx
AOPA was instrumental in efforts on curbing the FAA’s proposed new sleep apnea policy. Under the NEW draft guidelines announced April 1, pilots will not be disqualified based on body mass index (BMI) alone, and pilots will be issued medical certificates even if they are referred for additional evaluation. Read more here:
http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2014/April/01/FAA-drafts-new-sleep-apnea-guidelines.aspx
We supported and participated in the passage of the Small Aircraft Revitalization Act (SARA), the 23 Certification Process Study, the Part 23 ARC and the ASTM F44 Committee. In fact, just today, we reported that the House passed a bill that directs the FAA to use funding to support the Small Airplane Revitalization Act, which would streamline Part 23 certification of small airplanes. Issues like rewriting certification rules for small airplanes take a combination of federal funding, FAA support and Congressional pressure. All three of those things exist and AOPA has been engaged in each aspect:
http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/...ES-15pt7-BILLION-IN-FAA-FUNDING-FOR-2015.aspx
We’ve worked issues from airworthiness directives (most recently ECi and Superior AMOC) to the transition to the safe transition to an unleaded avgas (funding for the transition also included in the recent House bill). Additionally, AOPA has led the efforts with respect to the Airman Certification Systems and the transformation in the way the industry trains and tests future pilots. We also work a host of airport issues at GA airport throughout the U.S. ranging from hangar leases, encroachment to closures.
I post here and on the “red boards” – I learned to fly in high school, I am a CFII, flew CRJs for the airlines, worked at the FAA in safety systems, worked for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association for over 7 years and have been at AOPA for 2 years. I am an active and passionate pilot. I do this job and work for AOPA because I have a real passion for GA. If I didn’t think AOPA was effective and critical to ensuring GA is around for my grandchildren and great grandchildren, I wouldn’t be responding to this forum at this hour.
I look forward to future conversations with all of you.
Respectfully,
Katie
Katie Pribyl
VP Communications, AOPA
