AOPA has confirmed it’s selling its 2013 Cessna 525 M2 business jet but insists it’s not because it needs the money. In a memo to staff last week, Luke Wippler, the incoming chairman of the board of trustees said the decision was made in response to recommendations from the current co-CEOs of AOPA Katie Prybil and Jill Baker. The memo reads in part that “after hearing from Jill and Katie, the Board agreed with their view and made the decision to sell the jet, and I want to be clear about why. This is not about needing cash. It’s about being thoughtful stewards of member dollars and making sure the choices we make reflect the expectations our members and donors have of us. Working together with Jill and Katie, we’re taking a hard look at where things make sense and where we can do better, and this is one of those decisions.” AOPA provided AvBrief with the excerpt from the memo.
The decision was announced internally earlier this week and the plane will go up for sale shortly. A quick and uninformed look at what the plane is worth suggests it will sell for $3.8 and $4 million. It’s likely in exceptional condition so probably on the high end. According to FlightAware, the plane has flown six times in the last two months, including four return flights to Teterboro and two return flights to Stewart International north of New York City. All of those flights were 45-50 minutes. AOPA owns seven other aircraft, a Beech Bonanza, which was donated to AOPA, two Van’s RV-12s, a Cessna 172A, a Cessna 182T, a Citabria and this year’s sweepstakes plane, an Aviat Husky. AOPA used to have a Cessna Caravan but sold it. The organization has owned jets for about 20 years. Before it acquired the current airplane under former CEO Mark Baker, it operated a larger and more expensive CJ3.
Curious decision for an organization that relentlessly promotes business jets to showcase the value of general aviation. Is AOPA concerned that the jet appears too elitist for the likes of its rebellious, piston aircraft owner members?
Let NBAA have that domain
Oh, I don’t disagree with that, but I was pointing out the sheer hypocrisy of an organization selling its business jet to improve “optics” after it has worked tirelessly to convince us all that we should look out for the manufacturers and owners of those jets because they are every bit as much general aviation as a J-3.
Interestingly, NBAA has never owned any aircraft, jet or prop. They do charter at times, Staff fly commercial for the vast majority of travel.
Corporate jets are primarily for the NBAA crowd, not AOPA. This is the smartest decision AOPA has made in a long time.
Russ, a quick correction- there is no such thing as a CJ1 M2…. They are two separate models on paper but have a lot of similarities and the M2s are worth a bit more. This M2 is probably in the $2.5m-$3M range at least, is my guess. Double or more of what you estimate.
The American Bonanza Society owns and operates a nice straight tail Bonanza. I understand the reasoning, but I always felt that rank and file ABS members were subsidizing the airplane and that the money might be put to better use. Back when I worked for the old Garrett Airesearch, we used to joke that bizjets were modern day “royal barges”. If you are flying these airplanes hard for legit business, they can easily pay for themselves. If it’s an “executive perk”, not so much….
“Let them eat cake!”
Why should the executives an organization who claims to represent all of general aviation fly around in private jets owned by the organization? Are they “above” airline travel? Or, they could fly their own personal aircraft.
There was some rumors about this jet causing some consternation amongst the auto-renewal & proxy voters.
Maybe time to put more lipstick on the pig and move toward some appeasement. Oblivious decadence isn’t the answer to the problems pestering our quickly aging and taxed out of existence industry.
Yes, previous lipstick decisions might actually be a part of the problem here more so than the jet itself. Good luck getting 4-6 million dollars back out of this M-2 though in today’s aircraft market. Few things are as costly and worthless as an airplane ✈️ that just sits in a hangar without flying. It’s very nearly the worst abuse an airplane can suffer.
Selling something like their jet is a low hanging fruit decision – and what should be a first public step in reforming the financial side of the organization. Hopefully those dollars are reinvested in the members and not sent to offshore investment accounts…..Next it would be great to see the elusive new bylaws circulated and some passionate and financially prudent board members put forward.
Why use a publicly traceable asset when you can use your own asset and charge back to the org. in a confidential and lost in the figures fashion? This has nothing to do with being ‘thoughtful stewards of membership dollars’, it has everything to do with an easier way to hide how the membership dollars are being used.
Somewhere in the sell is a sign of good faith. But selling the jet is nothing compared to cleaning up the bylaws.
This is still in the window dressing category similar to the retirement of a couple of board members. The real substantive change needed is a change in the bylaws to facilitate online voting by ALL members, not just the few who can attend the annual meeting in person. And the real substantive change change needed is reinstatement of Darren, someone who we know had the member’s interests at heart.
Well, I am speechless . . . Not sure exactly what the board truly stands for anyway, this does not help. Maybe they should build an RV15 or the like. I want sharp legal minds that will protect general aviation against developers (and the like), and work with the FAA to get out of the way instead of over managing a widely dispersed, and shallow, piston industry. Liability, greed, and regulation are killing the ability of regular people to afford to fly. I truly believe young people would like to fly but don’t see a path. Flying Young Eagles and talking to their parents (usually professionals) is a great way to get one’s own perspective. Growing pilots is (and has always been) like getting a random group of dogs together, let them breed and expecting a specific outcome.
AOPA needs to truly understand the big picture building from the little picture, develop specific goals, and clearly communicate to the members. Maybe too much to ask. For now, I am not pulling membership, just watching the theater.
“Liability, greed, and regulation are killing the ability of regular people to afford to fly. I truly believe young people would like to fly but don’t see a path. “
If that rolled up into overall cost to fly, I agree. The difficulty is that once you push a price, it is hard to push it back down. Eco 101 and supply/demand.
I’ve talked to friends about this as I pondered getting back into flying. I earned my PPL in 1994 in FL. training costs were 55$ per hour and after I got my license I could rent a plane for $45-50. Moving to PA rental went up, but still okay at $60-65. I could afford that because my income matched inflation and I had expendable cash.
Today, I live in SC and I went and priced out flying at GMU. Minimum was $160. Wow! I thought, but when I did the math, factor 3% inflation over time, that came fairly close to what it should be (A little high, but location).
What did not grow with inflation, my income. Overall, American’s income has remain flat compared to inflation for decades. What was affordable, now is not.
there is no way anything will push prices down in GA, and in near future terms, job opportunities will actually decrease due to AI so the pool of young talent who want’s to fly will not have a job capable of paying for it. In numbers:
Just renting a single C172 or PA 128 and to stay current, try and fly 10 hours a month (that is barely 2% for the month).
Cost of plane: $160
So per month, $1600
per year $19,200
Net Income of %85K is @ 65K
Per year, pilot would be spending close to 30% just on flying.
Wife? Good luck on 10 hours
Baby? Buh’ Bye
House? Fagittaboutit
Medical issue? End of the runway.
The plane has left the hanger on this one and there does not seem a way to save it. Eventually, GA flying will be only for the elite reaching a point where it will be a niche activity. Commercial pilot training will be the only ones really using GA type planes and only for basic flight. Emphasis will mainly be on system management as AI is introduced into the aviation industry.
more smoke and mirrors….address the out of whack salaries…ridiculus for a 501C3 of that size…