AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2013 - 98

SURVEY

80%

of flight students drop out
before they complete training

News & Notes
MEMBERSHIP

Introducing CAPComm
Sitting down with Adam Smith
In 2012, AOPA founded the
Center to Advance the Pilot
Community, or CAPComm, to
reverse the shrinking pilot population. This group has taken over
all of AOPA’s initiatives that deal
with flight training. Adam Smith,
formerly of EAA, was tapped to
run the new group. We sat down
with Smith to discuss CAPComm
and its plans.
WHAT IS CAPCOMM? It gathers all of AOPA’s initiatives to
first halt and then turn around
the decline in the pilot population we’ve experienced
over the past 30 years. CAPComm is not
a short-term fix or marketing program.
It’s a serious structural change for serious
problems.
WHAT SORT OF MAJOR PROGRAMS WILL
CAPCOMM BE WORKING ON? We have three

primary initiatives in the first year: flight
training, flying clubs, and what I’m calling pilot activation. We will continue the
work of the Flight Training Initiative to get
after the poor completion rate. We hope
to grow the number of flying clubs in this
country, and we are going to try to increase
the retention rate of aviation.
WHAT PART DO FLYING CLUBS PLAY IN THIS?

We want to take them from being part of a
subculture to the mainstream of aviation.
The concept should be on par with owning
or renting. A compelling mix of affordability and community. And we know where
there is community, there is stickiness.
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR FLYING CLUBS?

We want to increase the number of flying
clubs from 650 today to 1,000 in five years.
98 | AOPA PILOT March 2013

VIEW THE

VIDEO

We will create 2,600 new pilots per year
with that initiative if successful.
WHAT IS PILOT ACTIVATION? Success is not
only bringing new people into aviation, but
also how well you keep them. Any business
that serves customers has a lapsed customer base. We think there are 500,000
lapsed pilots in the United States. They’ve
gone through the trouble to get a certificate
but then they stop flying. Over five years
we hope to improve the retention rate by 1
percent. That’s a total of 5,000 people who
rejoin aviation.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE EASIEST AND
MOST DIFFICULT OF THESE INITIATIVES?

Flying clubs are easiest. The feedback has
been overwhelmingly positive. I’m challenged by flight training. Some people
aren’t on board. There is so much variation in flight training, from the individual
instructor with no airplane to the big flight
training academy.
WEB

www.aopa.org/CAPComm

AOPA AV8RS

The 2013 AOPA Aviation Summit will be held
October 10-12 in Fort Worth, Texas (www.aopa.org/summit)
MEET TYLER
HOPPE
TYLER HOPPE

of Cocoa,
Florida, joined
AOPA AV8RS
because he wanted to share his
passion of flight with other likeminded teens. “In this town, I’m
seriously like the only kid who
loves aviation,” he says.
Hoppe says he plans to pursue aviation as both a career and
hobby. He is looking at possible
careers as an air traffic controller or A&P mechanic.
AOPA AV8RS is about
introducing our teen members
to the many career opportunities in aviation and aerospace.
It’s about providing them with
resources to pursue their dream
of becoming a professional pilot,
an aerospace engineer, air traffic controller, airport manager,
or aircraft mechanic.
AOPA AV8RS is also about
community. It’s about playing
a key part in our association as
our future leaders. It’s about
belonging to a community of
pilots and aviation enthusiasts
that’s nearly 400,000 strong.
And it’s about exchanging
ideas, dreams, interests, experiences—and more—with other
AOPA AV8RS across the country thanks to social media and a
very active community (www.
facebook.com/aopaav8rs).
Support a teen with an
interest in aviation. Encourage
him or her to enroll in an AOPA
AV8RS membership, free to
teens ages 14 through 18.
http://www.aopa.org/summit http://www.aopa.org/summit http://www.facebook.com/aopaav8rs http://www.facebook.com/aopaav8rs http://www.aopa.org/CAPComm
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2013
