AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2025 - 12

AOPA ACTION
VIEW FROM CAPI TOL HILL /
Advocating
for pilots
Safety is our North Star
BY JIM COON / Senior Vice President,
Government Affairs and Advocacy
AOPA Foundation Legacy Society member
WHILE 2024 WAS memorable for many reasons, one being the
first ever title in the massive FAA reauthorization legislation
solely dedicated to general aviation, we now have a new year,
new Congress, new administration, and a new AOPA leader. We
are energized to continue working hard on behalf of pilots to
help ensure our general aviation community remains vibrant
and strong.
Advocacy is, after all, an AOPA cornerstone and has been since
the association's founding in 1939. We take pride in representing
pilots and aircraft owners with policymakers at the federal, state,
and local levels. AOPA, in my obviously biased view, is one of the
main factors why GA is an American success story.
While advocacy is key to ensuring a vibrant general aviation
system, safety will always be our North Star. It is important for
everyone to recognize the downward trend in the GA accident
rate. For example, in 1994 the fatal accident rate was 1.73 accidents
per 100,000 flight hours compared to 2022 (the most recent year
we have full NTSB data) with 0.77 accidents per 100,000 flight
hours. This represents more than a 55-percent reduction in fatal
accidents for GA and with flight hours increasing from about 23
million to nearly 27 million in that same time span. A combination
of education, awareness, technology, and pilot proficiency has
contributed to this promising trend.
Our internationally recognized AOPA Air Safety Institute is
second to none with its educational materials and accident analysis
helping all pilots learn from others' mishaps. As we predicted, we
have continued this safety record even with BasicMed, under which
nearly 90,000 pilots have qualified to fly since its inception in 2017.
The naysayers who opposed our efforts to bring this program to
fruition have been proven wrong by data-the program is safe and
the very reason why it was expanded in last year's FAA bill, as even
designated pilot examiners can now use BasicMed. And if you don't
know much about BasicMed, I encourage you to visit our website
or contact us and we'll walk you through the program.
AOPA, along with commercial pilot unions and others,
successfully advocated for the establishment of a medical working
group in last year's FAA bill. This group, made up of medical and
technical efficiency experts dedicated to addressing the long
overdue modernization of the FAA's medical system and processes,
12
AOPA PILOT / January 2025
will get us on the right path to implementing needed reforms.
Today's system is antiquated and non-transparent, as we all know,
and we will continue to work to help the FAA get this system in
order, so pilots don't have to wait months or sometimes years for
a medical decision.
Another opportunity we have is addressing the growing
number and amount of fees being imposed on pilots at publicuse
airports. Airport authorities, often under pressure to generate
revenue, sometimes prioritize income over a pilot's experience.
The cumulative effect of these fees, such as fuel taxes, hangar
rates, parking, handling, infrastructure, special events, and others,
obviously deter current and future pilots from flying more and
thereby negatively impact safety.
We all understand the need for revenue, but pilots also expect
fees to be fair and reasonable. Just as important is the need for the
FAA to enforce public-use airport governance rules already on
the books. Many of these rules are written in a way that allow for
maximum flexibility or interpretation-and we need to address
this, or we'll find general aviation going down the same path here
in the United States that our friends in other countries have been
forced to follow.
We support and advocate for airports in Congress and in state
legislatures. We've fought to keep airports from closing and our
advocacy team helps airport administrators and pilots address
community issues. We've advocated for the largest federal airport
investment in history, $4 billion a year from the aviation trust fund.
Working with airports to seek alternative revenue sources and to
bifurcate private flying from for-hire flying is vital to the longevity
and vitality of general aviation. Because, unlike the airlines or forhire
operations, private pilots do not have the ability to pass along
all these fees. As this airport revenue issue evolves, it is essential
for airports and businesses
on airports to consider the
private pilot's perspective,
and work toward an environment
that promotes
balance and growth for
all sectors of aviation.
jim.coon@aopa.org
JIM COON spent 25 years on
Capitol Hill in several senior
staff positions, including staff
director for the U.S. House of
Representatives Committee
on Transportation and
Infrastructure.
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2025
