The US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has launched an initiative targeting the attrition in pilot numbers.
The Center to Advance the Pilot Community (CAPComm) will examine the reasons why pilot numbers in the USA have plunged by 25% in the last 30 years, and put in place some strategies to arrest the decline.
AOPA President Craig Fuller knows the task won’t be easy.
“The decline in the pilot population didn’t happen overnight and reversing the downward trend requires a long-term commitment,” he said.
“The Center’s first few initiatives are just the beginning of what will become a much more robust and wide-reaching program that builds a community in which more people earn pilot certificates, pilots are more active, and the flying lifetime of pilots is extended.
"The only way to get something moving in an organisation such as [AOPA] or any other is to create an environment where someone is going to take the controls and lead the organisation, so we created this center."
Another alarming statistic that has galvanised AOPA into action is that 80% of all student pilots in the USA will never go on to achieve their pilots licence. Reducing that number by as little as 10% is thought to add thousands more pilots to the community.
The first initiative of CAPComm will be to support the development of a network of flying clubs. Research by AOPA revealed that flying clubs are a valuable part of aviation and that the most effective ones keep aviation affordable and accessible.
According to the AOPA website, the aim is to “promote flying clubs nationwide and provide the tools and resources clubs need to build on their own success and that of their members. As part of that effort, the center will develop a flying club network to strengthen the bonds among pilots and clubs nationwide with a goal to link 1000 clubs in the next five years.”
Under the guidance of AOPA VP Adam Smith, CAPComm will also take over projects such as the Flight Training Student Retention Initiative, Flight Training Excellence Awards and distribution of the Flight Training Field Guides.