Admit It... You Knew THIS Was Coming, Didn't You?

By ANN Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell

OK... we're as sick of reporting these problems as you are in hearing them... but we can't hide our heads in the sand and ignore the serious problems that face this industry -- no matter how much we ALL wish they'd go away. But... this is serious stuff and it simply MUST be reported.

More important; this crap reflects on us all, as members of the aviation community -- a community that is being viewed in an increasingly negative light since 9/11.

There has never been a time in which aviation needs to be more honest with itself, much less the public, at large...

We're under attack from every quadrant and it makes no sense for any prominent member of the aviation community to not only help the public shoot us down, but to load the gun and help them take aim.

For a few years; we've been toying with the open advocation, as espoused by some pretty heavyweight members of the aero-community, that Sun 'n Fun be put aside and replaced by something else, someplace else. If push comes to shove, we're going to be forced to support that position... and in this day and age, we are pleased to note that we can offer considerable support to such a concept.

However; never having been a devotee of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, we want to strongly advocate an interim solution that might allow this Fly-In to be saved from itself.

Proposal: It's Time To "Throw the Bums Out."

In other words, the two main/pivotal players in this drama, Sun 'n Fun honcho Bill Eickoff and SnF Prez John Burton simply have proven (in our opinion) that they can not be trusted and have hurt aviation as a result of their apparent greed, deception and lack of concern for proper ethical conduct (again, this is our opinion... your mileage may vary).

At the very least; these characters need to be shown the door, the SnF Board infused with new people of unquestioned character and veracity, and a new and far more honest plan for the future implemented. In that way; rather than having to recreate this fading event with another organization, and in another location, we might be able to resuscitate it, save it, and forgo a heck of a lot of (possibly) needless effort. Yeah; there are a lot of other things that need to be done, but this simple step needs to be the first imperative in a series that is designed to restore trust and honor to an aviation icon that has let this business down horribly, acted irresponsibly and actually (again, IOO) become a most unsafe and unpleasant chapter in aviation history. We can do better, far better, and it's long past time that we do.

So... "throw the bums out."

Get some new, fresh, honest people in charge and let's see what we can do to save this much-needed and once positive aviation celebration, before it's destroyed by the years of greed, fraud, and unethical conduct that we think have become it's watchword for far too long.

What do you think?

Jim Campbell, ANN E-I-C

FMI: Shall We 'Throw The Bums Out?'