AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2015 - 59

We're working hard for you-and GA
B Y M A R K B A K E R , A O PA P R E S I D E N T A N D C E O

AOPA IS A MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATION first and foremost. We're
accountable to you, our members, and that's why we take this
space in the magazine to bring you up to speed on our progress
and priorities. Of course, we're constantly bringing you information about what we're doing and how we're doing it, but it can be
hard to see all those individual updates in the context of the bigger picture. So I consider this my chance to pull it all together and
give you the 10,000-foot view of some of the things we're doing to
serve our members and meet our mission.
I spent a lot of years running businesses, and I know that numbers are important measures of any organization's health, so we're
including them here. After all, everyone-except maybe the federal
government-has to make the books balance. But as much as numbers

and began the process of turning it into real, actionable programs
that could make a difference-for you as pilots, and for the future
of general aviation.
If 2014 was all about learning and planning, then 2015 is all
about executing on those plans and bringing our ideas to life. But
before I get into how we're doing that, I'd like to take a quick look
back on just a few of the important issues that shaped 2014.
As I traveled around listening to our members, you consistently made it clear that you depend on AOPA to advocate for you.
After all, while individuals can play an important role in advocacy,
it usually takes many voices speaking together (and sometimes
loudly) to get the attention of Congress or big government bureaucracies such as the FAA-and that's where an organization like

matter, for an association like AOPA setting the right priorities-and
then carrying them out effectively-is at least equally important.

AOPA makes all the difference. So in 2014 we put our advocacy
team to work on the biggest issues affecting your flying, and we
got some great results.
We brought an end to the unwarranted stops and searches of GA
aircraft by Customs and Border Protection and the agency has since
made changes in how it handles training, communication with the
GA community, and the use of local law enforcement agencies. We
also put a halt to a new sleep apnea policy that would have forced
tens of thousands of pilots to undergo expensive and intrusive medical tests strictly because of their body mass index (BMI).
And AOPA played a big part in getting changes to the pilot certification process, some of which took effect earlier this year. By

OF BUSINESS
LISTENING AND LEARNING

When I came to AOPA, my top priority was what I called "seeking to understand," and I spent a good deal of time traveling
around-meeting as many members as possible, and listening to
your thoughts about what matters most. During the course of 2014,
all of us at AOPA worked to develop a deeper understanding of
what's important to you as pilots and aircraft owners. We also put
a lot of effort into finding out what you want and expect from us
as your aviation association. Then we took what we had learned

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS ROSE
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 59

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2015

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