To Be Called SAFE - The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators

The latest developments in the ongoing struggle between the National Association of Flight Instructors and Take Back Our-NAFI were covered in a Daily News statement posted on TBO-NAFI's website Saturday, as details of the beginnings of The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators were discussed by SAFE Interim Working Group spokesman Doug Stewart.

Stewart said, "To begin with, the voting for a new name and acceptance of the by-laws has come to a close. If you have been watching the voting page on the website, you are probably aware that the name for the new organization, as chosen by the majority of the members will be: The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators - SAFE.

"That name garnered 69% of the vote, and unfortunately the vote counter stopped counting numbers, and only registered percentages after 100 voters had cast their vote. As for accepting the by-laws, they were accepted by the membership with 82 voting yes and only 2 voting no."

Stewart outlined steps to get the organization up and running are in the works - filing for incorporation, soliciting for nominees to serve on the Board of Directors, opening a bank account, soliciting sponsors, and planning meetings. The first is in Atlanta on February 26.

Stewart said that despite Jason Blair's comments to the media to the contrary, NAFI has done nothing at all to attempt to open a dialogue with TBO-NAFI. "If Tom Poberezny, and / or the NAFI organization came to us with a sincere attempt to negotiate, we would agree to negotiating with one very important proviso... that being the immediate resignation of the NAFI Board of Directors.

"While our hand gets stronger and stronger with each passing day, we did, none the less, agree that it would still be much easier to fix NAFI and move ahead to make it the organization that SAFE will definitely become, rather than to start from scratch."

In conclusion, Stewart said, "Please know that regardless the name, there will be an organization that truly represents all flight instructor's needs. An organization that is member-centric, transparent, forward thinking; an organization that has strong, positive leadership; an organization that will be capable of keeping step with the fast moving changes in today's flight instruction world; and an organization that you will be proud to belong to."

FMI: www.nafinet.org, http://tbonafi.info