Outgoing AOPA CEO Darren Pleasance asked the Board of Trustees for help in engaging with members, sponsors and donors in a letter he sent to the board about a month before he departed from the organization. He also addressed friction between himself and some board members in what was intended as a year-end report on his activities and those of the organization.
AvBrief’s sources told us it was this call to action that was behind his abrupt departure on Feb. 4 and the subsequent search for a new President. The letter is copied almost in its entirety at the end of this story. AvBrief has redacted some sensitive business and personnel information. Pleasance confirmed the letter was his but declined to comment. We’ve asked for comment from AOPA Board of Trustees Chair Jim Hauslein.
In the Jan. 9 letter Pleasance said he would “welcome greater Board engagement with our members, donors and staff so we are all informed by similar feedback” and urged trustees to travel to Frederick to take part in “internal working sessions on priority initiatives” He also asked them to get more involved with the public events AOPA sponsors to stay in touch with members. “Participation in Town Halls or donor meetings would be highly valuable in helping each of you to hear directly the feedback we get as we engage members and prospects.”
Pleasance also says he knew that he might be on shaky ground with some board members. “I want to acknowledge that I have not built the level of trust and connection with all of you that I had anticipated in my first year,” he said. “Whether due to misaligned expectations, my communication style, how I balanced time between external commitments and Frederick or differences of opinion regarding key individuals, my expectation had been for a positive trust-based partnership between me and all of you. I am committed to addressing this as a top priority in 2026.”
The balance of the letter discusses the accomplishments and challenges of the previous year, including stemming the bleeding of membership. Its net loss of paid memberships was less than half that of the previous year and he attributes that to an increase in his personal attendance at numerous aviation events during the year. He said retention rates were at record levels. At one time, AOPA had more than 400,000 members but now uses the figure of 300,000 to describe its member base. He described various initiatives aimed at outreach with members and also covered efforts to update and modernize its Web and social media presence.
Is there any doubt remaining?
299,999. Mine is due to expire and no plans to renew. Both AOPA and EAA are going where Kitplane led.
Same here.
Word will travel. Time to fire the PR agency.
Questions will be asked. Answers will be lacking. Maybe this time, the carpet won’t be able to cover all the rubbish.
How many years ago did you have seaplaneforum.com? We could easily copy/paste our AOPA discussion threads to this comment board and every word would be relevant today. Nothing has changed in +30 years. AOPA has not been an ‘Aviation Advocacy Organization’ in a very long time.
I sure hope this shake-up doesn’t interfere with my Wine/Cigar Club deliveries… 🙁
A bigger bunch of peeps is smelling the roses this time, but in essence its a 1:1 DEJAVU. And still the majority is waiting it out. And the response from the BOD is as it always was.
1. We know what we’re doing
2. Shut up.
3. Pay up.
4. Have you renewed your membership?
Seaplaneforum has been dead for quite a few years.
Maybe need to change the Board? Was the termination unanimous?
It is reported as unanimous. The report is well targeted and the plan appears well executed. The board did not like it. Why?
As for changing the board, after reading the bylaws while trying to revoke my proxy, it cannot be done from outside the organization. This inbreeding has led to the demise/diminution of any number of organizations and professional societies. The board, according to other reports holds about 43,000 proxies as of 2024, there are around 185,000 members and a significant loss of membership until Mr. Pleasance’ arrival. The board chair appoints a nominating committee of two, who selects candidates, which are the only persons eligible to be on the ballot. The nominating committee answers to the board and the chair.
In late 2024, I elected to let my membership expire at the end of January after being a member 45 years. With Mr. Pleasance’s appointment to the board, I renewed for 2025 and again for 2026 (before the present controversy). The only conclusion I can come to is the board is inbred, it has a structure to ensure that it is inbred, and it will remain inbred.
The problems as I see it were all addressed in the above letter, and the major impact is we do need a respected voice on Capitol Hill to advocate for general aviation as we are increasingly pressed airport operators, drone manufacturers, large commercial operators, etc. When AOPA becomes so inbred that it loses touch with us, the bigger question is: How does this help our interests?
There have been some rather curious positions taken by AOPA on airport-FBO issues I have been discussion at our local airport. Positions that touch on grant assurances and work against general aviation interests.
Other web site forums have suggested that cancelling proxies is not enough. I agree, but we need an alternative. I would be happy to tender my proxy to Mr. Pleasance or another strong leader in AOPA who can go to Frederick and get some of these problems on the record at the annual meeting. I would support someone who could get this organized. Even so, the board has the option of continuing the meeting if 50% of the members were not in attendance and the quorum requirements are minimal. This is a pretty big barrier to making any changes the sitting board does not want.
I will keep my membership for CY 2026, but if the present status quo remains it is highly unlikely that I will renew next January.
I guess I’m heading over to Kevin Garrison’s campfire. I really don’t care about AOPA’s internal dynamics. My experience with paying extra for services resulted in a non-answer from legal service/member service resources, but they did manage to publish my research on the topic without citing me.
I also don’t care what the latest Cirrus color is or how comfortable the Cirrus GuppyJet extra pax’s dual use seat/lav is.
I don’t need 100 octane, but I do need affordable gas that doesn’t eat my airframe or fuel plumbing…whoever can help with lobbying FAA towards that goal has my support.
Good news is next year’s dues will provide some fraction of a flt hour.
Bring firewood; there’s getting to be quite a crowd. It would be interesting to know how many Congress Critters are pilots, and which are AOPA or EAA members.
This is almost comical.
Pleasance: “Next year we can do this, this, and that other thing to make AOPA better and stronger.”
Board: “Yeah, no, we’re not doing any of this. We’ve got to get rid of this guy.”
I mean Pleasance wanted the board to actually show up in Maryland and be involved. He also had the audacity to suggest he talk to the regular folk who fund their organization, the horror. Definitely can’t have a CEO who suggests the board do any of that stuff
That was a bit of a read but it looks like the A.O.P.A. needs to trash its board and rebuild from the grass roots of the aviation community. I say that as a 50+ year member who has turned off my auto-renewal.
Seems like a reasonable report and a reasonable request. There is obviously more to this than what is outlined in the letter. Is there a semi-hidden issue with the board, unwilling to engage
with the members? There is obviously more to this situation than is evident to the members.
So basically he “Jerry McGuire’d” himself.
Since His letter asks the Board to get off their a**es and do some useful work. Such a request was apparently too much to bear for these fat cats.
I almost typed exactly the same thing…. Get off your Butt and do somthing….
After reading this letter, I am even more convinced that Darren was the right man for the job and that the board is completely incompetent. I will be adding my membership to their loss column in July at renewal time. I have hung on for 47 years, but that last couple of decades have been less than satisfactory and this now makes it clear that AOPA is no longer a member’s organization, but exists only to serve the trustees and employees.
Your comment places you squarely in the “bail out” contingent. So why wait for July? The cancellation of a membership (and proxy) with time remaining will have a greater impact.
I cancelled auto renewal, surely they are tracking the number of people who do that and/or outright cancel immediately but will not renew. Been watching this downward spiral for awhile.
Russ…thanks for your continued research into this important issue. I appreciate your interpretation of the letter and for making it possible for us to read the actual letter for ourselves. AOPA is obviously in a real mess and is nothing like the organization I knew for many years.
Ditto to Russ. Many of us followed you here for a reason … and your coverage of this issue is it. We want the truth, we can handle the truth and we’ll decide what each of us does with it individually. I just cruised over to the ‘competition’ and find nothing on this story. Thanks!
Quite the opposite. 😂
The bots probably don’t read the important stuff.
I keep thinking there has to be another side to this that the BOD cannot legally discuss (ergo some type of insurmountable HR violation). But with this letter, it looks less and less likely that is the case. Their $250K PR crisis management firm appears to have had an EFATO and stalled into the ground.
I made comments in previous articles related to this subject, making the point that we should wait until we have actual facts before we conclude that AOPA is a dead or dying entity.
It appears that this letter is legitimate, and to me indicates a board that is out of touch with the leadership and doesn’t like the message that Pleasance is bringing back from the membership. His emphasis on requesting board members to engage with the members says it all.
My speculation is that Pleasance had heard from the membership that the organization is out of touch with their priorities, and those conflict with the priorities of the board. So rather than consider the possibility that the message he’s delivering is accurate, they’re shooting the messenger.
I believe we need AOPA to protect the small aircraft owner, so I’m going to leave my membership on manual renew and watch carefully about what happens next.
Its nothing new in the aviation 3 and 4 letter group industry to shoot the messengers.
Wow. As if the proverbial feces had not hit the fan already with the membership. Seeing this letter will put the fan in fast-oscillation mode, spreading it far and deep.
Identifying points of conflict/disagreement and pledging to effectively address and resolve them is generally regarded as good leadership, right? And asking for engagement with the members and participation with the teams to provide perspective is a more than reasonable ask. What kind of board would remove a President for this candid assessment? February 2026 membership cancellation numbers should be interesting. What a shame. Darren was speaking with our voice and had given us confidence in the direction AOPA was moving.
The work of AOPA is important to GA. Organizational recovery from this is going to be difficult.
I see nothing in that letter that warrants him being fired. In fact, it should be just the opposite. It was a well written, strategic description of a plan to turn things around at AOPA. Now it seems things will get worse with significant numbers of members leaving.
How ridiculously short sighted can one be?
Wow. This further validates my opinions, both of Mr. Pleasance and of AOPA’s board. The board has got to go in its current incarnation. Term limits and an immediate search for board members to replace the longest-serving third is essential. I think ten years would be a generous limit for board membership; anyone who’s been there longer should be targeted for replacement. I don’t know what board members are paid currently, but they should receive a modest stipend (maybe $20,000 per year) plus reimbursement for travel expenses. They should also be expected to show up at AOPA events and have interaction with members.
I’ve been a member since 1999, but will not be renewing my membership unless I see substantial positive change at the board level.
Mr. Pleasance’s letter to the board is exemplary and only a board with its collective head up its collective derrière could see it any differently.
This letter solidifies the broad view that Darren was (and is) the absolute best person to lead AOPA.
My biggest beef with AOPA is that despite their public stance, they cave to the FAA in allowing airports and runways to close. Given the size, the funding, and the political clout of AOPA, how can this continue to happen? Locally, AOPA bought in on closing runway 7/25 at DET. This has severely limited GA operations, including flight training. AOPA was NOT our advocate in this case. Looking at Santa Monica, Burke Lakefront, and a hundred other endangered airports across our nation, we need an organization that will keep our infrastructure intact!
I have seen the same at an airport two states west. I addressed severe restrictions on independent flight instruction with the AOPA and was told the airport was within their rights to mandate a large annual fee (~$10k) on flight instructors not associated with an FBO. AOPA advised me that this was reasonable. The net result is the instructors have a choice: work for the FBO and make less than the airport 30 nm away, or pay the airport $30-$40/hour to do any instruction at the field. Flight instruction has dried up despite a large number of new student pilots medicals in the region. They’re going somewhere, for sure because they come back with hours on their ticket. We need an effective AOPA and A does not stand for Airport. We do not need the AOPA Country Club.
Stop complaining serfs and pay your dues then pay your dues.
Sounds like a highly competent, talented, and passionate CEO to me. AOPA will be hard pressed to replace him with someone of similar insight and abilities. Personally, my priorities for AOPA are: 1) Protect GA 2) Promote GA 3) Provide a valuable array of services to me and other members. I really hope AOPA can right its ship.
I canceled auto renewal and withdrew my proxy, but I’m going to wait this out for a while. Our organization needs a revamping from the by-laws on up. Board members are unpaid, but no thanks for your service, guys. Possibly the biggest structural problem is the incestuous nature of the board itself. The way it’s set up, board members pick the board members. There is no input from the membership at all. Anyone can see that this is a recipe for disaster and dysfunction, quod erat demonstrandum.
I’ve cancelled auto renewal, but I don’t see any way to withdraw my proxy. I can see how to extend it, but not to withdraw it. How did you do it?
Call AOPA. It takes about a minute and the staff know what’s going on.
I had to call them. The Bylaws state that email is an accepted means of transmitting notice. I sent mine to the membership@aopa.org/ ATTN Secretary of the Board who is legally the authority to receive correspondence. I confirmed by telephone to make sure the email did qualify, and received a reply email acknowledging the cancellation of proxy. The on-line form does not have the option to cancel the proxy. Another barrier to member input and strike against them.
I suspect that by this time next month they may be saying membership is 200k. They’ve really messed up.
Wow. Just wow.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/reinstate-darren-pleasance-as-ceo-of-aopa
From a practical standpoint, AOPA Title And Escrow services botched an aircraft title search for me and would not return e-mails or phone calls.
My AOPA subscription expires this month. I will take it off auto renew after the renewal and will then wait and see how this plays out. For the past few years I have been on the borderline of canceling. I think we are now seeing how much AoPa has drifted away from its membership. Lee
This has all the hallmarks of an amateurish and disengaged board. It will be hard to hire a quality CEO if the board is not engaged with strategic priorities or substantively involved in the work of the organization. I’ve been on boards like this–but not for long.
As a 53-year member, I’ve told Mr. Hauslein that he has until the end of April to get his Board of Trustees in order, or I would not be renewing. I think 53 years of paying dues should get me some consideration!
I also soundly criticized the initial mendacious press release announcing Darren’s immediate departure. I felt qualified to do that because I was employed by AOPA for 15 years, initially as director of media and public relations. No self-respecting communications professional would have issued that release. It was AWFUL and had easily verifiable lies. One of my friends still on the inside told me that a Board member presented the prewritten release as a fait accompli and ordered the head communications guy to send it exactly as it was.
The purpose of a Board of Trustees Is to watch the budget, hire a solid leader and keep out of his way. This AOPA Board has demonstrated they don’t understand that principle.
Funny enough, today I received a letter from “Darren” asking me to donate to AOPA’s PAC. I will take advantage for the stamped enveloped they sent me to reply with a letter to Darren, praising him for what he did, and excusing myself of donating this year as I have strong doubts about the Board’s intentions.
Something for all those that are canceling their AOPA memberships to consider: It may be more beneficial to revoke your proxy and keep your membership. *If* a substantial number of board seats are to be vacated, it would probably come up as a member vote. At that point in time, we need to be able to give our proxy to those who are looking to unseat the current board. If we just cancel and leave, we lose our ability to vote for change. (Assuming you believe the organization can/should be turned around.)
I e-mailed AOPA about how to assign a proxy to someone else (other than an AOPA board member). Here is the reply I received from AOPA:
If you would like to assign your proxy to a certain individual, we will need the following information.
Your name, member number, and email address that is on your record.
In the body of the email, it needs to state that you are revoking your proxy (if we have one established) and are designating it to (individual’s name) as your proxy.
The email can be sent to memberassistance@aopa.org and cc to charles.lehman@aopa.org.
I’ve been a member for more than 50 years, and am now among those considering letting it go, though with some sadness.. The advocacy mission in Congress has been successful, and the Safety Foundation and pilot population expansion programs are also worth saving, including the Airport Support Network.. That said, it hasn’t really been an organization offering much else to real-world GA pilots in years. Kudos to the Board members that resigned in protest over Darren’s firing, and shame on those remaining who voted against the interests of the membership in failing to support a CEO that took the time to understand what the Value Proposition needed to be.
If you have a friend going to the annual meeting:
If you would like to assign your proxy to a certain individual, we will need the following information.
Your name, member number, and email address that is on your record.
In the body of the email, it needs to state that you are revoking your proxy (if we have one established) and are designating it to (individual’s name) as your proxy.
The email can be sent to memberassistance@aopa.org and cc to charles.lehman@aopa.org.
Put Darren back. Then let the trustees who cannot work with him explain themselves to 300,000 paying members.
If AOPA was going to fire him because his goals were different than theirs then that is what they should have said. Making up the excuse that it was because he didn’t live in Frederick is unprofessional and dishonest since he does live in Frederick. If that was the issue then why didn’t they fire Mark Baker? So much for transparency.
I attended the Buckeye Air Fair today and listened to them tap dancing around answering the obvious question while praising what a great person Darren is. Give me a break. There were several AOPA employees in the audience, no doubt wanting to hear their answers as well.
Hmm, interesting. Reads like a resignation letter to me. He points out that the leadership is divorced from the rank and file and the priorities of the broader owner/pilot, and that he has opinions about “key individuals” that diverge strongly enough from others on the board to form a rupture (the other possible reasons are paper tigers).
Unmanned aircraft and corporate control of airspace/airports are coming for the heart of the private pilot/owner (not to mention aviation journalism!). We need courageous & savvy individuals (like Russ et al) to lead the charge.