NBAA Launches Owner Pilot Association Coalition

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The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) has launched a new coalition aimed at bringing leaders of business aircraft owner-pilot organizations together. According to the association, the NBAA Owner Pilot Association Coalition (NBAA OPAC) will “tackle top concerns for business aviators and explore opportunities to grow the owner-operator community.” The group initially plans to focus on topics such as enhancing operator safety, addressing insurance coverage and costs and initiatives to drive owner-pilot associations’ member acquisition and retention.

“NBAA is about serving all entrepreneurs and companies using an aircraft for business, including owner pilots,” said Andrew Broom, NBAA senior vice president of strategy, marketing and innovation. “This new, grassroots coalition will connect the best thinking to concrete action to address owner-operators’ unique challenges, and also optimize the many ways aviation can support their business needs.”

NBAA OPAC is being advised by representatives from groups including Cirrus Vision Pilots and Owners, Citation Jet Pilots Association (CJP), Embraer Jet Operators Association (EJOA), Malibu M-Class Owner and Pilot Association and TBM Owner Pilot Association (TBMOPA). NBAA currently represents more than 10,000 company and professional members in the business aviation sector.

Kate O'Connor
Kate O’Connor works as AVweb's Editor-in-Chief. She is a private pilot, certificated aircraft dispatcher, and graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

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3 COMMENTS

    • That’s a more narrow focus than AOPA which many of us have given up on as it seemed to turn into a typical big organization more concerned with its own self than protecting the interests of its members. Some also thought that they got too interested in looking out exclusively for high end owners.
      Speaking for myself, I dropped them after it seemed to me they were always losing. The tax changes on owner flight rules and limits on charity and training percentages, the inability to protect airports, and ADSB combined with what seemed to be cronyism in offices and jobs within the organization, protection of advertisers, focus on income, etc. it all got out of hand.
      I used to be a business owner pilot, but it got to be if you used a piston plane, you often were unwelcome. I clued into that rather late because my local Million Air owner was a Mooniac. He gave me a good deal, but then I ran afoul of the many rip off games being directed at piston pilots at larger fields in order to discourage use. AOPA responded very slowly to the issue.
      Just look at the companies mentioned here, and you will see no change in focus from NBAA. To be fair, piston business use has likely dropped so much at this point they aren’t a good target for sponsors to care about.

      • This attitude frankly surprises me. I’ve been a member of AOPA forever and it seems they are fighting the good fight as well as they ever did. The fact that they have to make compromises and choose their battles doesn’t diminish the good work that continues to come out. It’s easy to focus on the losses but I feel confident that GA in the US would be unrecognizable to us today but for AOPA’s strong advocacy. All one has to do is look at what it’s like to fly GA aircraft in pretty much every other country to appreciate how good we have it here by comparison, and AOPA has everything to do with that.

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