A No-Nonsense Q&A With AOPA Boss, Mark Baker

ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell sat down with AOPA’s President, Mark Baker to discuss his first year at the job and to look to the future. This is an in-depth interview you do not want to miss.

Highlights of the interview include a discussion of the situation at Santa Monica Airport which could set a negative trend towards maintaining our airport system for general aviation. Another topic Jim delves into at the start is the continuing desire to change the 3rd class medical requirements. Baker responds to these questions with an in-depth discussion of AOPA’s position. You’ll be pleased to note he is optimistic about action on the 3rd class medical, and he explains why.

The interview spreads far and wide and covers such topics as the requirement for ADS-B in the year 2020.  Baker is concerned about the cost impact on more than 80,000 low-value aircraft owners. He said the cost of the ADS-B installation is out of proportion with the value of these aircraft, and the pilot gets no obvious benefit in return.

AOPA membership numbers and the membership trend is also on the list of topics ANN’s Campbell discusses with Baker. In Baker’s response to the decreasing number of active pilots in the United States, he says AOPA is aware we need more general aviation activity, and he details how AOPA is heading in a direction to create new pilots.

Campbell is on the money with his questions and Baker responds candidly. It’s a conversation that will bring you up to date and keep you informed about AOPA and GA issues.

Aero-TV is a production of the Internationally syndicated Aero-News Network. Seen worldwide by hundreds of thousands of aviators and aviation adherents, Aero-TV has produced nearly 2000 aviation and feature programs, including several hundred episodes of our thrice-weekly aviation news program, AIRBORNE, hosted by Ashley Hale. Parent company, Aero-News Network, has the most aggressive and intensive editorial profile of any aviation news organization and has published nearly 200,000 news and feature stories since its inception -- having pioneered the online 24/7 aviation new-media model that so many have emulated.

Copyright 2014, Aero-News Network, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

FMI: www.aopa.org, www.aero-news.net, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews