ANN's Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell, spent considerable time in Washington, DC, last week on a very active tour of political offices, alphabet associations and government agencies. It was an illuminating week. In coming days, that trip will have a big impact on the structure and direction of a number of stories we've planned for you but a few comments seem proper at the get-go. Here's his first report...

First of all; the quality of leadership, of late, in the aviation world has never been quite this good. While the jury is still out on NBAA's new President Shelley Longmuir; leadership and senior staffing (in particular) for organizations like GAMA, NATA, AEA, and AOPA has never been more impressive... or as effective.

That may not be all that much fun for guys like me who take delight in exposing buffoonery and folks who can't get their jobs done (and guess who that might be...), but it sure is uncommonly good news for the aero-biz.

I am also quite blown-away at some of the forward-thinking I'm seeing from GA CEOs... recent conversations with Piper's Chuck Suma, Mooney's Nelson Happy, and with Diamond's Peter Maurer (who may be one of the smartest guys running a GA company that we know) not only show these guys (among others) are thinking hard and fast about what to do next... but are doing so in some REALLY exciting ways. I'm impressed with their strong commitment to safety, training, and keeping GA (where it belongs) at the forefront of the technological food-chain... wait til you read some of what they've had to say....

Two major hot-button issues, even above and beyond the latest/ever-present security nonsense are the continuation of the bonus depreciation tax program and anything having to do with airport survival. Throughout our travels, these issues came up... time and time again... from the most active big-money biz-av contingents all the way through the more basic general aviation corners.

Bonus depreciation has been the one high point in a lackluster, occasionally downright poor, business cycle for the aviation community. The jet community are tying some 2 billion bucks in sales to the existence of this program and GA experts, including Cirrus Design's Exec VP John Bingham, agree that its impact has been "exceptional." Bingham admitted that it was a good program for Cirrus (which made it a cornerstone of their HIGHLY successful sales team... which nearly tripled its size this year, from the year before) but expanded his comments to note that it was good for ALL of GA. He called the continued availability of these tax benefits "essential" to the future health of the GA community.

GAMA President Ed Bolen (shown right, who is proving to be an exceptionally effective leader for the GA community) noted that the Bonus Depreciation program was going to be a major focus of GAMA efforts for the foreseeable future... pronouncing it good for all, "It brings jobs, it promotes a healthy economy and it helps GA continue to grow and take (even more) prominent roles in our country." By the way; I'm going to have to offer a serious mea culpa... in that I thought I had a good sense of the role that GAMA was playing in the aviation world... but I've sorely underestimated it... and will be paying lots more attention to their efforts in the future -- because they deserve the attention -- you have NO idea how many ways they are impacting this business.  

NATA's Jim Coyne is an extraordinary aviation advocate... who is taking hard aim at the increasingly critical issue of what's happening with our airports. He is taking special interest in freeing Washington Reagan from the clutches of overzealous security restrictions and restoring the right of GA to use this critical and oh-so-useful airport. While many may view the plight of Reagan National as a fatcat issue... it is hardly that. If you can keep one type of aviation out of one airport, you can restrict all from any... and the danger in that is unbelievably hazardous... both to our basic freedoms, as well as the overall healthy of a critical part of the nation's transportation system. Coyne and NATA WILL be heard on this issue -- loud and clear -- and it behooves us all, NATA members and non-members alike, to support such efforts to the max.

We visited Dale Hooper and the folks at USUA, who are looking forward to helping us get more ultralight-centric news out to everyone... and are getting ready to meet the needs and responsibilities of Sport Pilot (now rumored to be coming NO earlier than June of '04) head-on. Another GREAT visit was had with Pro Pilot Publisher Murray Smith, who publishes one of the few print mags that I still go out of my way to read. While his editorial direction covers the business aviation community, this guy's editorial honesty and innate sense of what needs to written (and read) makes Pro Pilot some of the best reading (of any kind) in the aviation business... and also makes Murray a GREAT source for insight into the real health and welfare of the business aviation community. I always learn something when we chat. We also enjoyed intriguing visits with the folks at BeAPilot, Avemco, ETC USA and Tiger Aircraft... which will be featured shortly.

Other visits included some VERY quality time with AEA's Ric Peri... their Washington eyes and ears... this guy is a hard-charger who manages to keep his hands in more projects than I can count.. and has been an uncommonly efficient Senior staffer for an organization that is carrying the administrative weight of most of GA's true technical advances. Of all the associations that the FAA works with, it's their comments about AEA that show the most respect and praise -- and it's hard to get a bureaucrat to admit that they like ANYTHING.

There's more... so much more -- later. Keep your eyes open, we've got LOTS more to write about -- and we will.

More to follow...

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