AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - June 2018 - 80

AOPA ANNUAL REPORT

Thankfully, the cold front has swept through; the bad weather
has moved along, and general aviation can see clearly. As always,
AOPA remains vigilant in the fight to protect the freedom of general aviation.
STORM CLOUDS

Training, Flying Clubs, and
Rusty Pilot initiatives are inviting more people into-or back
into-aviation; improving the
experience people have when
they learn to fly; and keeping
the pilots we have active and
engaged in our community.
Along with the decline
in the pilot population, the
United States faces a shortage of aviation professionals:
pilots, engineers, mechanics,
and more. Working with pro-

Much of 2017 was devoted to fighting a congressional proposal that
would have turned the air traffic control system over to a panel of
special interests that ultimately would have been run by the airlines.
AOPA and more than 250 general aviation organizations-from type
clubs to state aviation groups-joined forces with consumer groups,
CEOs, labor unions, small airports, and local elected officials to communicate the shortfalls and unintended consequences of the plan.
"This whole debate, for decades, has been and is about controlling the system. The proposal
would not reduce the cost of
flying, it would not reduce
In 2017, we expanded the AOPA Fly-Ins
delays, and it will not speed
to two days, offering members in-depth
up the deployment of NextGen
technologies," said Jim Coon,
workshops on Friday before the Saturday
AOPA senior vice president of
main event. We saw a 76-percent growth
government affairs. "It's a solution in search of a problem. We
in attendance between 2016 and 2017.
are fortunate to have the largest and safest system in the
world and it works for all users, not just a few, so why do we want fessional curriculum designers,
to mess with that?" Coon asked.
AOPA is creating a four-year high school science, technology, engiMembers of Congress received more than 200,000 contacts neering, and math (STEM) program that falls along three tracks:
from AOPA members alone on the issue. On February 28, unable pilot, aerospace engineering, and unmanned aircraft systems or
to garner the votes needed in the House of Representatives, drones. The courses, which are being provided to schools free
retiring House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of charge, include detailed lesson plans, student activities and
Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.)-the leading proponent of the projects, assessments, and more. The program conforms to Next
bill-announced he would no longer pursue the proposal. But in Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards
April, Shuster attempted to tack an amendment onto FAA fund- and, in keeping with career and technical education best practices,
ing legislation in a last-gasp attempt to remove air traffic control will lead to a certification or industry-accepted test-such as the
from the FAA and allow it to be run by a board where airlines FAA private pilot knowledge test, a Part 107 drone pilot certificawould have unparallelled control. We asked you once again to tion, or a 3-D modeling software certification.
contact your congressional representatives, and you rallied with
Preparing each grade level of curriculum requires courses to be
the intensity we've come to expect from our members. Shuster developed, field tested over the course of a school year, revised, and
backed down a day later.
then they can be implemented by high schools. More than 700 stuAOPA's mission has always been to protect the freedom to fly. dents at 29 schools in 17 states began field-testing the ninth-grade
In 2017, we devoted many hours and rallied thousands of pilots by AOPA aviation STEM curriculum. The curriculum for tenth-gradadvocating on behalf of our members. But that's only part of the ers will undergo its test phase in 2018-2019, with implementation to
formula. While fighting off the so-called "privatization" of ATC, follow. A 2018-2019 course development timeline is planned for the
we continue to press the other core tenets of our mission: educat- eleventh grade, with testing and implementation over 2019-2021.
ing pilots, nonpilots, and policymakers; and supporting activities Course development, testing, and implementation for high school
that ensure the long-term health of GA.
seniors will emerge from 2019 to 2020.
INSPIRING, SUPPORTING, CONNECTING

HELPING PILOTS RIGHT NOW

For more than three decades, we have faced a decline in the pilot
population, losing more than 6,000 pilots per year. There's no magic
bullet to address this problem. That's why AOPA created the You
Can Fly program-it is a collection of four initiatives designed to
get people flying and keep them flying. The High School, Flight

Meanwhile, we're looking to improve the experience of pilots who
are currently in training, as well as those who have flown many
hundreds of hours and hope to fly many more.
You Can Fly's Flight Training initiative is an example. The
Flight Training Experience Survey seeks flight schools and

80 | AOPA PILOT June 2018

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - June 2018

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