“I can’t believe you are quitting and aren’t staying around to fight this thing out,” my friend Jim said. “You said it yourself; you have been a member for over forty-four years. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
Jim wasn’t really upset with me. He was working his way through the seven stages of grief. Right now, he was struggling with step three, anger. I was already at step seven, acceptance.
It wasn’t that I didn’t care. I was that I had cared too long and now just wanted to get on with my flying life without the aid and hindrance of trying to fix an organization that was far too big, entrenched, and aloof to even notice that I was trying. “You worked for them and wrote for their magazines,” said Jim. “How can you leave now?”
Jim was right but also wrong. I was a failure as an employee at AOPA. Having worked for a while as a FIRC instructor and safety lecturer, I was fired just as Darren was, with no notice and no recourse.
I wasn’t what they wanted as a FIRC instructor. I had little patience for some of the students who looked upon the weekend as an exercise in non-response and non-learning. Their goal was to sit and survive. I certainly didn’t do the job the way AOPA wanted it done.
Fresh from leaving my airline career, I was totally unprepared for the politics needed to survive and thrive in this realm. For example, it was OK to sell your website or book to the students at the FIRC, but wrong to teach a lesson on how to make money as a CFI.
A weekend confab at Frederick sealed my fate. I did not fit in, and because I was dealing with a dying relative for the six months prior to my firing, I did not care to schmooze enough to succeed. Being abruptly sacked by phone was a little painful, but I was grateful to get the heck out of there.
I was also a failure as a magazine writer there. My failure in that area could be attributed to a lack of talent, but I think it was more of a lack of patience on my part.
Almost every cover of their mag had a picture of an expensive jet or other pricey aircraft. I always thought the title with the picture should have been: “Here is another mega-expensive airplane that you schlub members will never have a prayer of ever owning or flying.”
I get it. Companies that sell these very expensive aircraft and other equipment buy advertising and would be very upset if anything at all critical of their product was written about by the magazine touting the picture of their Bourge-Barge Platinum Edition Bizjet on the cover.
Except for their ability to sometimes affect the outcomes of political issues for pilots, the organization and its magazines seem to exist primarily to sell products and advertising to its members.
Their product sales could be seen as a member bonus. After all, it never occurred to me that I might want to have a lawyer on retainer until they started selling their legal protection program. Life and aircraft insurance, rental car promotions, and, for a while, wine sales were what they seemed to be all about.
“Well,” said Jim, “That is a pretty naive way of looking at an organization like AOPA. “Their safety and educational products are very helpful, and selling advertising is the way that magazines work.”
“Also,” he added, “You are complaining too much and not offering any help to fix the problem.”
I think you just made my point, Jim. I have stopped complaining. I have stopped everything with AOPA.
I quit.
You see, this wasn’t a life-changing decision on my part, intended to straighten out AOPA or anybody there. It was a stone-cold personal peace-of-mind choice.
The tempests in various teapots around Frederick are no longer my concern. Member input and direction are not of interest to them and is not the business they are conducting. The people running the show are insulated from the “great unwashed” membership.
When have you ever seen a board member at an aviation event? Do you even know who they are?
Now, I don’t ever have to know who they are. I care about them with the same intensity they care about the average pilot/member, except I don’t try to sell them wine or insurance.
Life there will go on without other old geezer pilots like me, who always prefer a grass-strip fly-in with a good breakfast to the glitzy alphabet-group fly-ins and commercial lovefests they plug.
I don’t need additional life insurance, legal help, or magazine content overseen by private pilots with journalism degrees.
There is a peace that comes with quitting and accepting the fact that I cannot fix the problems of the aviation world. For the people still fighting for the future of aviation by trying to change the unchangeable and to save the souls of unrepentant aviation oligarchs, I applaud you and wish you the best of luck.
Good on ya, KG. It’ll take more than you and me for them to get the message, but the Tsunami is building and surely change will come.
I recently rejoined AOPA after a very long hiatus. I got disgusted years back when I received promotional material trying to sell me wine. Why was AOPA in the wine selling business? When the board named Darren Pleasance the new CEO I rejoined, thinking “Finally, this organization will embrace ALL members, not just the uber-rich.” When I heard the board fired Mr. Pleasance without providing an explanation I almost rage quit that day. Instead, I signed the petition, and sent an email to the board explaining that my decision to rejoin the org was based largely on the board’s decision to bring Mr. Pleasance on as CEO. I’m going to give the board a chance to respond to what appears to be a major faux pas before making a final decision, but if they don’t have a reasonable explanation I’ll be looking to get back that peaceful easy feeling…
I did as well, rejoined two months ago or so for review of their medical topics and services, etc. Now that I have a year paid I’ll wait to see if I win the sweepstakes and bail out. Here’s to one in a million. I think there are still many failing to realize they can live on with the generous support of the 1%. Look at the board bios. Most are from ‘big aviation’ in some way. Us little folk don’t stand a chance to be valued.
I always did, and still do, like your writing KG. I’m glad to see it at AvBrief.
I think we are seeing an example of [Jerry] Pournelle’s iron law of bureaucracy in action. He stated:
We have a recent case right here. AvWeb and other FireCrown titles became funnels of ads served at the lowest cost to produce. Thankfully Russ Niles et al., created AvBrief.
The iron law may partially explain why many members don’t feel AOPA is serving our needs. Maybe the revolution amongst AOPA members will take flight and exact change. I doubt it but I’m wrong about a lot of things.
Kevin, you have almost exactly described my feelings towards AOPA. I will have been a member for 47 years come July, but at this point I am about 80% certain I will not renew. I have sent an email to Jim Hauslein, that I am sure he has sent to file 13 by now, and signed the petition, but I expect no change.
The AOPA directors/trustees have crafted the bylaws so that they are untouchable by anything other than a massive lawsuit as hit the NRA a few years back and that finally seems to have gotten their attention. Preventing electronic voting or voting by directed proxy as is required for real corporations, means that they can do what they want forever. There is no way a majority can show up to vote in person. It appears possible that a member could serve as a proxy for other members, but organizing that for a majority of members is also logistically impossible without the resources of an Elon Musk.
I am hoping the board will do the right thing and reinstate Darren and then take the next step of allowing electronic voting via directed proxy as with publicly traded corporations, but I think the odds of that are between zero and none. So, the best I can do is start saving my membership money and buying airplane gas instead. Thankfully, the EAA hasn’t rotted to the extent of AOPA, although I they are clearly headed that direction also which is unfortunate.
Wow, talk about a bitter pill on the tongue!
How could they hire Darren without knowing he’d commute from OR?
He didn’t. Spent 3-5 days a month in OR and the rest at AOPA or on the road.
The Board reason is poppycock.
I’m with you Kevin. Well said.
After hearing the details of the recent CEO ousting, I chose not to renew my membership. I also have a peaceful, easy feeling about my choice.
Amen Kevin! Like the Eagles lyric in your title, I felt the same way three days ago when I also quit. I have no one to blame but myself. I was on that auto-renew train for most of the 54 years I was a member. I didn’t realize that I was looking at a lemming in the mirror every morning and it was just to easy to not say no.
I’ve been doing the same for 50 years. Not this year, signed the petition, removed the auto proxy, and stopped the auto renew. I will wait u til renewal time in August and see what has developed before making a final decision.
As usual you nailed it, Kevin!
Make sure you renew your EAA memberships everyone! EAA is not a perfect organization either, but they do a lot to contribute to safety advocacy and government advocacy for pilots and aircraft owners. Also, many of you “great unwashed” masses are likely flying a “vintage” aircraft by EAA definition, so supporting the organization’s advocacy efforts for that fleet is a good thing!
Many of you may recall a similar fight years ago among the EAA membership about “picket fences” and other atrocities committed by a bad leader of the organization at the time. Hopefully AOPA can find their way back into the good graces of their members as EAA did when they had their own struggles over a decade ago.
AOPA is an important player in retaining our aviation freedoms, and it’s in all of our best interests that AOPA survives this storm, hopefully with a little attitude adjustment thanks to articles like Kevin’s and all of the other vocal membership backlash we are seeing.
In your usual wonderful style. you touched on my sentiments for the organization which I’ve long been a member. I bid the boys adieu yesterday.
Thanks for your work!
Bob Boston
Yup, sometimes just better to wake up and realize that the young whipper snappers just don’t want to take advantage of years of sagacious knowledge. Been there and while it’s difficult, gotta accept it. Go sit by the fire with a fine brandy and light up that cigar and smile!
Totally agree.
I gave up AOPA a number of years ago. The main reason I had it was for the forum. They had some really knowledgeable pilots on there that taught me a lot. Then one day they just shut it down with little explanation. They had thousands of members who used it regularly but apparently a few people at the top decided it wasn’t important. It was to me.
I now have the same attitude to politics and most social media. Don’t read about it, don’t follow the news at all.
It’s a much more peaceful existence. All these types of things bring nothing but angst into our lives.
Once we let them go we become happier for not having these things take up space in our heads
Lots of truth in what you say Kevin, but even as I see “more Commercialization” of all the events I frequent and take the Fam to, Reno, Oshkosh, Sun-N-Fun, I still LOVE it ALL ! So glad to see that you were able to keep yours intact ! Bring on the C182s, Bo`s, and then heck yes- throw in the Lears and Gulfstreams!!
Things decline gradually, then Something Horrible Inducing Trauma happens.
When I joined AOPA forty years ago, they were the only group dedicated to political lobbying on behalf of private aviation. I had joined EAA a few years earlier, but their emphasis was on “experimental”, home-built, and personal aircraft, and were located far from the seat of federal power. It made sense to support both organizations, even though I owned a series of very modest Cessnas, and never expected to built my own aircraft.
One organization, run by an experienced, hands-on “father-figure” with his quaint Midwest ideas of “family”, led it to greatness. The other took the path to profit and power. Neither of those evolutions were sudden or frankly, unexpected.
In the early years of my career when money was tight, it was often tough to justify my AOPA membership, but never my EAA dues. Forty years ago I drove 14hrs non-stop to my first EAA convention, back when I was young, resilient. and frankly pretty stupid. I haven’t missed one since, including the COVID year, where my Vintage family came together to hold our own “OshKoff” event the same week.
Now that I’m retired and living on a limited income, I am grateful that the out-of-touch AOPA Board gave me the incentive to cut them off altogether, though I seriously doubt that they will miss me. It was never clear that they cared much about me and my flying in the first place.
Good for you Kevin! I took a similar step several years ago. AOPA used to, and maybe still does, publish a daily newsletter. One day I opened the email to see an article for a product that promised eliminate fatigue in pilots. My knowledge of human factors told me that nothing but sleep can reduce fatigue. I promptly put in a call to headquarters but could not reach anyone with editorial control. I sent an email to the address listed on the newsletter, but received no response. So, I sent out an email blast to my 6,000+ subscribers explaining that AOPA was promoting a fraudulent and potentially dangerous product and that they were ignoring my attempts to contact them. I stated that I was immediately resigning my AOPA membership and returning the 50-year pin that I had worn proudly in the past. Apparently several hundred of my subscribers followed my lead and noisily resigned also. Finally, I received a call from someone at AOPA who attempted to lecture me on how advertising revenue was so important, but they were pulling the ad anyway and that they would appreciate it if I would send another email blast explaining their actions and urge people to reinstate their memberships. To sweeten the deal, I was offered a free lifetime membership. I declined their offer and shared the content of the call with my readers. I believe that it has been many years since AOPA has been of any substantial benefit to the majority of its members.
The only reason I belong to AOPA is that the insurance discount I receive is more $ than the cost of membership. I gave up reading their magazine as it is irrelevant to me.
I am an EAA member and gain a lot from EAA. As an active member of my local chapter, and having attended several of their building classes and AirVenture, I am an advocate of EAA.
Kevin –
Even those uncontrolled, grass strips benefit from AOPA. I keep writing this – no other organization has anything like the Airport Support Network, which is the ONLY group working nationwide to preserve GA airports.
I was an ASN volunteer for over 20 years. All it took was one phone call to get all the resources of AOPA in play. Legal and legislative help for threats to the airport, speakers and videos for seminars, swag and guidance for community events – all at zero cost to me or to the airport. Sure, it loses some of the fights, but we don’t often hear about the ones it wins. And EAA DOESN’T DO THIS.
I wouldn’t try to talk you out of quitting, but it would help us all if you mentioned the things AOPA does right. For me, it’s worth the year’s dues to keep as many GA airports open as possible.
Its nice to read this and it speaks from my heart. Never a employee or board member of an association, just a measly finalist for a position as executive director. I killed all association memberships quite a few years back and never ever once felt uneasy about saying no to nasty power-play, prestige or power. I launched three discussion sites for seaplane, aerobatic and glider pilots and ran a seaplane news site for a few years. I tried to fight status quo for many years and eventually felt as if hitting my head on a wall was a better use of my time.
You did extremely well as a AOPA failure, Kev!
After being forgotten as Editor Europe by AVweb, I managed to never make it into the rank and file at AVbrief and now enjoy life as a useless bum.
Always liked your style of writing, JaBa.
My best Mel Brooks Harumph, to the rudderless & lost AOPA BOD