AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2017 - 29

NEWS

A Trump White House
What the president-elect and a new
Congress mean for GA
BY JOE KILDEA

FOLLOWING MONTHS of debates, rallies, fact checks, and
polls, election results are in, and AOPA will begin to work
with a new White House and Congress on issues that matter to pilots.
Jim Coon, AOPA senior vice president of government
affairs and advocacy, noted that president-elect Donald
Trump will be a friend to general aviation considering he is
an aircraft owner and campaigned on rebuilding America's
infrastructure, including airports.
Trump's campaign website says the president-elect will
"implement a bold, visionary plan for a cost-effective system
of roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, railroads, ports and waterways, and pipelines," and "work with Congress to modernize
our airports and air traffic control systems."
Trump currently owns four aircraft: a Boeing 757-200,
a Cessna Citation X, and two Sikorsky S-76B helicopters.
Coon said AOPA will reach out to Trump's transition
team and incoming members of Congress to discuss the
value of GA to the economy, and key issues that affect the
future of aviation in America.
"AOPA has a number of important issues to address for general aviation, and we look forward to working with the incoming
Trump administration and the new Congress," he said.
Trump is scheduled to take the oath of office on January
20, 2017.
Capitol Hill, along with the White House, will also
see some new faces. Two notable losses from the House

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee came with
Stephanie Murphy's (D-Fla.) defeat of Rep. John Mica
(R-Fla.) and state Sen. Ruben Kihuen's (D-Nev.) victory over
Rep. Cresent Hardy (R-Nev.).
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), the chair of the Senate
Aviation Subcommittee and co-sponsor of the Pilot's Bill of
Rights 2, also lost her New Hampshire Senate race against
Gov. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.).
At least 32 members of the House GA Caucus and one
member of the Senate GA Caucus will not return to office.
EMAIL joe.kildea@aopa.org

$219 billion

General aviation stimulates the economy by creating jobs and contributing to the
gross domestic product (GDP). In 2013, 1.1 million jobs in the United States were
supported by GA. The economic output supported by general aviation was $219
billion, with the GA industry contributing $109 billion to the U.S. GDP.

» $768.4 billion added to the U.S. GDP by airports annually.
» 7.6 million jobs made possible by airports in America.
» $1.6 trillion output in the form of goods and services is produced by airports.

-www.aopa.org/media-relations

WEB www.aopa.org/media-relations

HEADLINES THAT AFFECT YOU
Recent news from the aviation world
84 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS URGE SWIFT ACTION
ON MEDICAL REFORM
A bipartisan group of senators and representatives
signed letters to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta,
pressing the agency head to ensure third class medical
reform is implemented on time and according to the
provisions signed into law in July. -AOPA Online

GAMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTS NEW OFFICERS
The board of directors of GAMA elected Simon
Caldecott, president and CEO of Piper Aircraft, as its
chairman for 2017. In addition, Phil Straub, managing
director of aviation and vice president of Garmin
International, was elected as vice chairman.
-Aero-News Network

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 29

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2017