Tom Poberezny's Successor Not Likely To Be Named Soon

ANN has been following internal details surrounding the search for a successor for EAA Chairman of the Board/President Tom Poberezny for a number of weeks, and it appears that what has become a very "political" process has reached a major snag.

A source close to the committee in charge of the successor search informs Aero-News that what might have resulted in Tom's replacement being named as early as this week will now not happen anytime soon.

The front-runner for this position, GAMA Boss Pete Bunce was considered to have been pretty well vetted and locked in until recently. However; internal correspondence from Poberezny confirms reports that have circulated in the last 24 hours... that Bunce has taken himself out of consideration due to the fact that he feels that he can not get the breadth of support he thinks he would need to take on this position.

In a Tuesday afternoon email, Tom Poberezny informed EAA's senior advisors and board members that "Earlier today, Pete Bunce advised the EAA that he withdrew his name from consideration for the EAA’s president position.   He wanted a unanimous vote of support from the Board and believed this was unlikely at the upcoming Board meeting. As a result, the EAA search for a new president is ongoing..."

GAMA's Pete Bunce

Since the search appeared to be winding down, and a number of top prospects had been passed over in favor of Bunce, a Thursday morning board meeting will reportedly start the process anew.

As noted, ANN has been monitoring a great number of details surrounding this matter (and some associated actions) for quite some time. We're in the process of digesting this data for the moment and are preparing an analysis for the near future, as the succession program for a future EAA now seems to have taken on even more problematic dimensions.

With the AOPA succession at the beginning of the year (from Phil Boyer to Craig Fuller) now getting mixed reviews, EAA is that much more "on the bubble" in their need to make the best possible succession and to assure that EAA remains a reasonably powerful force in the aviation community.

FMI: www.eaa.org