AOPA Membership Dues increase

I'm going by what was in the report.

Edit : I should have read further before replying. Deferred compensation.

retailguy said:
At the time he was the Chief Financial Officer. Pretty sure he worked more than 1 hour per week.
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timwinters said:
BTW, Tom,

I watch the AOPA live vid almost every week. Nice job, keep it up.
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Thanks much for watching. I hope you find it useful.

Regarding your suggestion about a place to go to get the latest on issues, it's tough to keep a briefing document up to date.

Best place to go is to HOVER on the Advocacy Tab on the Home page and then from the drop down select Advocacy News. Here's the direct link: http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/Advocacy.aspx

There the latest stories on Medical Petition, Part 23 Rewrite, Avgas, state and national legislation, and other issues are categorized with most recent stories at the top.
 
TomHaines said:
The BARR program is all or nothing. You can't select on a flight by flight basis which flights are visible and AOPA's airplanes have been unblocked for years.
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Hmmmm.....:no::no:...... There are various exceptions a flight dept can use to block some flights and unblock others..

Hopefully for you guys, a pic of an AOPA plane doesn't show up sitting on a ramp somewhere and there is NO public available flight tracker info showing it flying there...
 
N801BH said:
Hmmmm.....:no::no:...... There are various exceptions a flight dept can use to block some flights and unblock others..

Hopefully for you guys, a pic of an AOPA plane doesn't show up sitting on a ramp somewhere and there is NO public available flight tracker info showing it flying there...
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Of course, the 172s, 182, and Debonair fly around VFR on many flights and not necessarily with flight following so you'll see them out and about with no tracking available.
 
Tom, BTW, thanks for posting here.
 
timwinters said:
Tom,

With all due respect, if you are really serious about trying to convince the peanut galley that AOPA is looking out for them then how about a (no BS) progress report on:

5. expediting the 100LL alternative approval.
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With this long list of auto fuel stc's we don't even need alternative fuel. For now, Ethanol free gas will take care of a large part of the GA fleet. There must be little incentive for airports to carry anything but 100ll/jeta.

http://www.autofuelstc.com/approved_engines_airfames.phtml
 
TomHaines said:
Of course, the 172s, 182, and Debonair fly around VFR on many flights and not necessarily with flight following so you'll see them out and about with no tracking available.
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Roger that good buddy........... VFR doesn't need flight plans below 18,000.... N4GA does fly into the flight levels.....:yes:.... That is what we were talking about ya know...;)


Nice spin though..:rolleyes:
 
Yeah, that's a bit too "conspiracy theory" for me. I'm sure they're not out scud running in the jet for fear of the membership finding out where they travel.
 
TedR3 said:
The attached list of AOPA salaries from its 2012 IRS 990 return is the reason I let my membership lapse.
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That HR salary is ridiculous! :yes:

Considering where they live and the cost of living there why are they making San Francisco Bay Area wages? :no:
 
flyingriki said:
That HR salary is ridiculous! :yes:

Considering where they live and the cost of living there why are they making San Francisco Bay Area wages? :no:
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You think Metro DC is cheap?
 
It is my understanding that the rules for the IRS 990 have been re-written in the last 4-5 years to make it much harder to hide compensation. The numbers on there should be a good representation of "all in" wages. Previously, I think there were opportunities for compensation and business relationships that could occur and not land on the 990.

No comment from me on the amounts, just relaying some info on the validity of the form.
 
N801BH said:
Roger that good buddy........... VFR doesn't need flight plans below 18,000.... N4GA does fly into the flight levels.....:yes:.... That is what we were talking about ya know...;)


Nice spin though..:rolleyes:
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Let me know the next time you know of anyone flying a jet more than 50 nm below 18,000. :rolleyes2:
 
TomHaines said:
Let me know the next time you know of anyone flying a jet more than 50 nm below 18,000. :rolleyes2:
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Man....... You really missed the point on being able to block /unblock when needed....

And............ As a member for decades I am politely asking you for your title and position in AOPA...

Thanks in advance..
 
N801BH said:
Man....... You really missed the point on being able to block /unblock when needed....

And............ As a member for decades I am politely asking you for your title and position in AOPA...

Thanks in advance..
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Sr. VP - Media.
He does the weekly TV spots. Probably the dullest alking head you'll ever see. I think he actually cracked a smile last week.....
He gets paid a bunch for it too. :yesnod:
 
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I give Tom a lot of credit for the transition to video journalism. Not easy, and the AOPA Live "shows" are well done. He's been there a while, too.
 
jhausch said:
I give Tom a lot of credit for the transition to video journalism. Not easy, and the AOPA Live "shows" are well done. He's been there a while, too.
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I give Tom a lot of credit for posting here and that alone makes me feel good about my membership.
 
ChrisK said:
I give Tom a lot of credit for posting here and that alone makes me feel good about my membership.
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Well.... We had (User ID: Katie Pribyl) post in the beginning, but it must have gone right over her head, so they sent in Tom..... These AOPA employees that make a 6 figure yearly pay will fight to keep the gravy train rolling...

I commend them for their fight.... BUT.... In reality, their "large" salary is the act that will break the camels back.......

For the poster who mentioned DC has having very high cost of living, he/she is probably right... But any ORG who is needing to raise yearly dues 30% to be able to sustain, really needs to rethink their location so they can reduce costs immensely...... No need for them to be based in DC at all... Position a few lobbyists close to the beltway and have the main office in a less expensive place like Kearney Nebraska, or Wellington Kansas... You pick a cheap place to live and they should move there TOMMOROW... IMHO...
 
If you think AOPA is in touch with reality, watch this video:

http://www.aopa.org/AOPA-Live.aspx?watch={BA72B0F9-6306-4793-AF71-7AA203F57E2D}

What a useless video. Weather radar and stormscope are instruments that MOST GA aircraft do NOT have.

They briefly mention that they got help from ATC. REALLY??? We can get help from ATC? Who would have thunk?

AOPA is out of touch and wastes valuable (VERY expensive) management time on stupid things.

I think I will NOT be renewing.
 
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AOPA is a business, plain and simple.

AOPA is selling you a "dream". The dream is "pay us money and we will make your hobby better."

The late night televangelist also will tell you if you send him money the kingdom of heaven awaits you.

Both are in it strictly for the money, don't kid yourself.
 
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You do what everybody else does, you put a lobbyist in DC at their stated rate of several hundred thousand a year (!) and move the operation to Texas so the salaries aren't so ridiculous. Then think economy with the fancy jets to "important" meetings that just have to be in person.

If they can't think economicly they need new people. More of the same budget busting nonsense that is so prevalent in DC is absolutely NOT acceptable.
 
flyingriki said:
Yup, it was our money and it ticks us off.
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Do you follow all the corporate airplanes which are owned by companies whose stock you might possibly have a stake in to the tune of more than $60? Do you get hacked off when they are blocked?
 
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N801BH said:
Well.... We had (User ID: Katie Pribyl) post in the beginning, but it must have gone right over her head, so they sent in Tom..... These AOPA employees that make a 6 figure yearly pay will fight to keep the gravy train rolling...

I commend them for their fight.... BUT.... In reality, their "large" salary is the act that will break the camels back.......

For the poster who mentioned DC has having very high cost of living, he/she is probably right... But any ORG who is needing to raise yearly dues 30% to be able to sustain, really needs to rethink their location so they can reduce costs immensely...... No need for them to be based in DC at all... Position a few lobbyists close to the beltway and have the main office in a less expensive place like Kearney Nebraska, or Wellington Kansas... You pick a cheap place to live and they should move there TOMMOROW... IMHO...
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Right...so where are you going to find a pool of experienced association management people in West Undershirt, KS?
 
Everskyward said:
Do you follow all the corporate airplanes which are owned by companies whose stock you might possibly have a stake in to the tune of more than $60? Do you get hacked of when they are blocked?
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Have no clue what you're talking about, nor care. My interest is not remotely "blocking" of anything.
 
flyingriki said:
Have no clue what you're talking about, nor care. My interest is not remotely "blocking" of anything.
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I should have addressed that to N801BH, Ben, who was giving Tom a hard time about the corporate jet and its destinations.
 
bartmc said:
They have 200 employees. Not exactly Fortune 500 sized.
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Which means that finding quality talent is all the more important. Who's going to move from DC metro to Flyover, Nebraska?
 
TomHaines said:
And, by the way, for those who bother looking at the financials, the revenue was $47.6 million in 2013, down from $53.5 million in 2012
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I read them. Thank you for posting them,Tom.

Four things I noticed:

1. Revenues are down several million per year, almost entirely because of a decrease in royalties and the like. Something does need to offset that.

2. But management is not helping. The change in management expenses during this period of diminishing revenues was not down. It was up well over 10%. This looks like the opposite of belt-tightening. That, along with the magnitude of the highest salaries, are a concern.

3. Cash burn in operations is $3 to $4 million per year. This is being paid by spending earnings from the investments. Which could be sustainable if the investments were well managed, but I have a big concern about that ...

4 ... because the statements reveal that the investments were not well managed. They had single-digit returns during 2013, the greatest bull market year in ages. This happened because they were cautiously invested mostly in cash, which had no prospect of earning enough to pay for that cash burn. Then, near the end of the year, after the equity markets had reached record levels, that cash was belatedly rotated into stocks. My thought is that if a foundation or college endowment invested this way, its investment advisers should be sacked, and it's board should be sacked as well. This performance does not speak well for the governance of AOPA.

My take is this:

AOPA does need to raise dues. The foremost reason it needs to do so is that clumsy management of investments prevents these funds from earning enough to pay for the high, and growing, expense of management.

I do like your news broadcast, Tom. But not the story I see in the financial statements.
 
TomHaines said:
Tim, with all due respect, we report routinely on these items throughout all of our communications channels, magazines, web sites, email newsletters, and video channel--no BS.

No. 1, 3, and 4 are part of the Part 23 rewrite, which AOPA has been hugely supportive of and participated in drafting.

No. 2 is reported on practically weekly as the number of cosponsors ratchets up. And, as we have reported extensively, Mark Baker met w/ Adminstrator Huerta a few weeks ago on third-class medical and we believe we will get some good news before or at OSH.

Again, No. 5, is regularly covered by us when there is news to report and our technical staff helped develop the process by which the fuel candidates will be tested and they are on the Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative committees.

We just installed a new search engine on our site and a quick keyword search on any of these subjects will turn up dozens of recent stories on the subjects--no BS.
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So...

In other words, the statuses of these issues are exactly the same as they were when I resigned my AOPA membership about seven years ago.

I'm sure glad I haven't missed anything.

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
So...

In other words, the statuses of these issues are exactly the same as they were when I resigned my AOPA membership about seven years ago.

I'm sure glad I haven't missed anything.

-Rich
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Well, in fairness, there does seem to be progress on #2...
 
paflyer said:
Which means that finding quality talent is all the more important. Who's going to move from DC metro to Flyover, Nebraska?
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Considering that this very forum exists because there's some talented folks in Nebraska that provide it for all of us, Nebraska may have been a poor choice for that analogy. :)

Pretty sure the only difference is in cost of living, not talent level. The idea that talented professionals only live in overcrowded east coast cities like DC, is ... quaint... to put it mildly.

Another good place would be Wichita. All the manufacturers at least have buildings there, even if they don't build airplanes there much, anymore. AOPA HQ in Wichita would be quite appropriate, considering that particular "flyover" city's history.

Reno, NV would probably love to have them, too.

Dayton, OH wouldn't be an awful historical choice, either.

Put HQ out in a town that appreciates aviation and serves as a constant reminder of who they're serving, and leave the political action group in DC.

Even gives them a great reason to have their jet that everyone whines about...

Now it you said they should move to Grand Forks... Now that'd just be funny!
 
RotorAndWing said:
AOPA is a business, plain and simple.

AOPA is selling you a "dream". The dream is "pay us money and we will make your hobby better."

The late night televangelist also will tell you if you send him money the kingdom of heaven awaits you.

Both are in it strictly for the money, don't kid yourself.
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Yep, that's the long and short of it. There was a gap in the market where there was a place to put leverage on people's fear for money, and the market filled that niche.
 
paflyer said:
Which means that finding quality talent is all the more important. Who's going to move from DC metro to Flyover, Nebraska?
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Probably people more aligned with the their membership base. I'm not sure I know anyone who would want to move to DC. Location is not at the top of my list when accepting employment. I see nothing about DC that's superior to flyover Nebraska. I personally can't stand the place.
 
bartmc said:
Probably people more aligned with the their membership base. I'm not sure I know anyone who would want to move to DC. Location is not at the top of my list when accepting employment. I see nothing about DC that's superior to flyover Nebraska. I personally can't stand the place.
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The question is whether we're better served with lobbyists who align with aviation priorities or aviators who try to lobby.

The reality seems to be that AOPA isn't that effective in the first place, so how they go about the business of tilting at windmills may not be a critical factor.
 
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