Record year
We are working for you
Jill Baker and Katie Pribyl,
AOPA Acting Co-Presidents
2025 wasn’t just a good year for AOPA and general aviation. It was a defining one. We are in one of the most exciting times in GA history and have seen major records broken this year that will define GA’s future.
First, the historic investment in modernizing our nation’s air traffic control system is moving forward. After the tragic midair collision between a regional jet and military helicopter in Washington, D.C., that claimed 67 lives, AOPA supported efforts to both strengthen safety measures and our nation’s air traffic control system.
An initial $12.5 billion down payment toward ATC modernization—which focuses on improving both ATC staffing and the technology they use—was approved in July. By 2028, when the work is scheduled to wrap up, the plan will cost more than $30 billion. AOPA will continue to strongly support these transformative efforts.
Second, despite the recent attention on safety gaps in the national airspace system, when it comes to GA, we’ve never been safer. Preliminary data from the AOPA Air Safety Institute shows 2025 will likely be our safest year on record—a record that we’ve broken several times in recent years.
Third, the AOPA Foundation High School Aviation STEM Curriculum is serving more students than ever. In the 2025–2026 school year, more than 32,000 students were enrolled in these classes. And for the first time, the curriculum is being taught in all 50 states.
And, finally, the AOPA Foundation scholarship program reached a new record as well—with $2.1 million in scholarships awarded to nearly 400 recipients. About 100 of those are high school students and teachers, who each received $12,900 toward their private pilot certificate.
AOPA continues to serve our members in every way, every day. Our Pilot Information Center (PIC) and Member Services teams fielded more than 100,000 calls and emails from AOPA members in 2025. If you’ve never reached out to them, our PIC—made up of active pilots, A&Ps, and CFIs—is a wealth of information. Everyone from student pilots to CFIs, even the occasional designated pilot examiner and aviation medical examiner, reaches out to this resource with questions about federal aviation regulations, medical certification, and much more. The staff of the AOPA PIC is an incredible resource for all of us. We also thank Darren Pleasance, who led AOPA as president and CEO during 2025, for his service to this association and the pilots we represent.
From our successful advocacy efforts to continuing to educate the next generation, AOPA is dedicated to defending our freedom to fly and helping fuel our passion to take to the skies. Much of the work you’ll read about in these pages was shaped by the entire AOPA team, made up of about 200 dedicated professionals who strive to serve our members and all of GA, every day. GA is worth protecting, and you can count on us to keep up the fight.
Advocating for you
AOPA's hard work pays off
Jim Coon,
AOPA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Advocacy
“Advocating on behalf of 300,000 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association members, whether in the halls of Congress, federal departments and agencies, state legislatures, or local government councils, requires translating pilots’ needs into effective policy. Developing strong relationships, being a trusted resource, combined with some good old-fashioned professional persistence, are keys to protecting the freedom to fly, not only for today’s aviators but for those to come.” —Jim Coon
In 2025, AOPA delivered key advocacy wins for general aviation. The organization also fought to protect pilots from rising costs by pursuing legislation to enable portable ADS-B In equipage compliance pathways and continued its efforts to block fee collection with this safety tool. AOPA helped unite the aviation industry behind the need to develop a modernized air traffic control system, setting aside the problematic privatization debate. At the state level, AOPA advanced tax relief, protected airport access, and increased aviation funding. The association also championed pilot medical and mental health reforms and supported improvements to the FAA’s notam system for safer, more reliable operations.
Our accomplishments in 2025
• AOPA helped unite the entire aviation industry to support the modernization of our nation’s aging air traffic control system and serves as a steering committee member of the Modern Skies Coalition, made up of more than 60 aviation organizations.
• The FAA released the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) final rule in July, dramatically increasing sport pilot privileges and reimagining light-sport category aircraft. AOPA was deeply involved in the development of MOSAIC for years and believes it will both make it easier for people to become pilots and cut costs as new aircraft are introduced.
• AOPA led the fight to stop the misuse of ADS-B, and support is growing among pilots, members of Congress, state lawmakers, and safety officials. More than 100 airports have started charging fees—usually landing fees—to pilots using ADS-B technology. This is wrong. AOPA was the driving force behind the introduction of the Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act to end this practice.
• Medical certification and mental health were two big focuses for AOPA in 2025. After AOPA and others in the GA community resisted a proposed change from the FAA to deny incomplete medical applications—instead of the current practice of deferral—the FAA withdrew the proposal and released updates to MedXPress to help applicants better prepare before visiting their AME.
At the same time, AOPA supported both the Mental Health in Aviation Act, which would reduce the stigma around mental health treatment and give pilots more options to seek care and report it to the FAA, and the Aviation Medication Transparency Act, which would require the FAA to provide pilots with a list of medications they can and cannot take.
• AOPA expressed safety concerns to an FAA proposed rule that would, among other things, change right-of-way rules as part of new Part 108 regulations that would govern beyond visual line of sight operations (BVLOS) by drones.
Protecting you
AOPA provides legal defense, assistance, and education
Fernando Campoamor,
AOPA General Counsel
“In 2025, the Pilot Protection Services team assisted thousands of members with a wide range of aviation-related legal matters, while working behind the scenes to improve procedures and implement a new survey system to further our pursuit of delivering the best possible member experience. Meanwhile, the Office of General Counsel continued to help fight for the rights of GA users at public airports and throughout the national airspace system. I joined this exceptional team earlier this year, and I look forward to building on this success as we continue to assist our members and advocate for the future of general aviation.”
—Fernando Campoamor
More than 69,000 AOPA members rely on Pilot Protection Services for access to a wide range of aviation legal and medical benefits, delivered by AOPA’s medical certification specialists, Legal Services Plan staff attorneys, and a nationwide network of aviation attorneys.
Our accomplishments in 2025
- PPS staff and panel attorneys helped members navigate 5,129 aviation legal matters, such as pilot deviations, accidents/incidents, medical certification issues, hangar lease reviews, and aircraft transactions.
- PPS medical certification specialists handled approximately 17,000 calls, emails, and chats with PPS members about medical certification, BasicMed, the expanded sport pilot rules under MOSAIC, and more.
- AOPA delivered aviation legal education to members through articles and presentations at EAA AirVenture, the Buckeye Air Fair in Arizona, Props and Pistons Festival in Ohio, and Kent State University.
- We provided online aviation legal education for nearly 500 panel attorneys across the country while also engaging with the leaders of the aviation legal community through the Lawyer Pilots Bar Association and Aviation Lawyers Association.
- Alongside our co-complainants, AOPA secured an FAA determination that Santa Clara County’’s prohibition of 100LL at its airports violated FAA grant assurance obligations. The county appealed and is attempting to negotiate a corrective plan with the FAA, so we remain in the fight.
- We provided legal support to AOPA advocacy efforts, including airport access issues and protecting ADS-B data from misuse.
Supporting you
Despite tragedies, accidents continue to trend downward
Mike Ginter,
Senior Vice President, AOPA Air Safety Institute
“Last year’s tragic midair collision in Washington put aviation safety under the microscope for the public at large. Despite this, general aviation continues to become safer. In fact, 2025 will likely go down as one of the safest years on record for general aviation, and the ASI team is more driven than ever to help pilots learn from tragedies to make us all safer.” —Mike Ginter
The midair collision in Washington, D.C., last January was the start to a number of tragic accidents that made headlines throughout the year—including a medical transport Learjet in Philadelphia just two days later, a sightseeing helicopter crashing in the Hudson River in New York City in April, and a Cessna Citation crashing into a neighborhood in San Diego in May.
Each of these accidents was heartbreaking, taking lives far too soon. Altogether, aviation safety was put under the microscope—calling our recent progress into question. But pilots across GA continue to engage in education, learn from the mistakes of others, and apply the lessons to their own flying.
Preliminary estimates from 2025 show that GA continues to break safety records. While we won’t have the final accident numbers until NTSB reports from 2025 are complete—despite these tragedies—last year could go down as the safest on record for GA.
Our accomplishments in 2025
- The AOPA Air Safety Institute (ASI) reached pilots more than 6.2 million times in 2025, through online videos and content, as well as at events and forums nationwide.
- ASI honored Avidyne CEO Dan Schwinn with the Richard G. McSpadden General Aviation Safety Award at the Hoover Awards in 2025, highlighting his work that has made a lasting impact on GA.
- The publication of the thirty-fifth Richard G. McSpadden Report highlights the continuing decline in general aviation accidents.
- In partnership with 26 other industry organizations, ASI led the National Pause for General Aviation Safety, reaching thousands of general aviation pilots with relevant safety content.
- ASI launched an updated electronic Flight Instructor Refresher Course (eFIRC), after receiving FAA approval, putting resources on MOSAIC into flight instructors’ hands days after its launch. ASI released 12 new episodes of the There I Was... podcast.
- ASI’s quarterly “What Went Wrong” articles in AOPA Pilot provided readers with lessons learned from pertinent GA accidents.
- Monthly “ASI Tips” offered safety advice in both AOPA Pilot and Flight Training magazines.
- Produced the popular weekly Training and Safety Tips on aopa.org and delivered a variety of seminar and webinar topics nationwide to more than 13,000 attendees.
- We renewed thousands of CFI certificates through our online flight instructor refresher course (eFIRC).
Reaching you
AOPA Foundation programs reach further than ever
Elizabeth Tennyson,
Senior Vice President, AOPA Foundation
“The AOPA Foundation celebrated a banner year in 2025. Our generous donors and the programs they support are changing lives—reaching more students in a record number of schools, awarding more scholarship dollars than ever before, making flying more affordable through flying clubs, and supporting the training community.”—Elizabeth Tennyson
The AOPA Foundation’s programs continue to meet people wherever they are in their aviation journey. From teenagers learning about aviation for the first time to pilots who have been flying for decades, and those looking to get back into it after some time away, the AOPA Foundation has a program to help them achieve their dreams.
A few highlights from 2025
• For the first time, the High School Aviation STEM Curriculum was taught in classrooms in all 50 states—plus Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, serving more than 32,000 students and more than 1,500 schools.
• Hundreds of teachers took part in the AOPA Foundation Aviation Education Symposium in Indianapolis, where they spent three days learning how to implement, grow, and enrich aviation education at the middle and high school levels.
• The Flight Training Experience Awards received more than 2,500 submissions and honored 67 flight schools and 67 CFIs for creating outstanding training experiences.
• The Flight Training initiative hosted 12 successful What’s Up webinars with 17,000 views and created 24 Flight School Business videos.
• The Flying Clubs initiative launched 22 new flying clubs, bringing the program total to 277. The team also hosted presentations around the country and published 12 editions of the Club Connector newsletter.
• The Rusty Pilots and Back to Your Roots initiatives delivered 74 live seminars, seven webinars, and more than 1,600 online course completions. The program has now served more than 60,000 pilots and helped 14,500 pilots return to active GA flying.
• More than 6,850 applications were submitted, and a record $2.1 million in scholarships was awarded for flight training, maintenance, and more.
Storytelling for you
AOPA tells the story of general aviation
Kollin Stagnito,
Senior Vice President of Media and Communications
“The AOPA Media team is proud to continue telling the story of general aviation. What you don’t see in those stories, videos, or interviews is the countless hours of planning and logistics that go into every story to help entertain, inform, and inspire our members.” —Kollin Stagnito
The Media team is among the largest at AOPA and is responsible for telling the story of general aviation by publishing AOPA’s magazines—AOPA Pilot, AOPA Pilot Turbine Edition, and Flight Training—the ePilot and Flight Training newsletters, and through our popular YouTube channel and podcasts. In 2025, these teams traveled to 25 states to tell the stories that make general aviation: personal experiences, life-changing events, and how AOPA serves its members by protecting their freedom to fly.
Teams traveled to 25 states to tell the stories that make general aviation: personal stories, life-changing events, and how AOPA serves its members.
Our accomplishments in 2025
• AOPA Pilot received two national Folio Eddie awards, for a series of articles—“Star Struck” and “Flying for Barbecue” by Senior Features Editor Julie Summers Walker—and for the feature “Wings of the Iditarod” by Features Editor Alicia Herron. AOPA Pilot was also a finalist in design and photography.
• The AOPA Publications team created 31 print and digital edition magazine issues of AOPA Pilot, AOPA Pilot Turbine Edition, Flight Training, and a special annual issue with distribution to 1,000 flight schools. The team also launched a mobile-optimized version of the magazines, giving members anywhere a better reading experience.
• The AOPA digital media team produced 168 weekly newsletters (AOPA ePilot and Flight Training, AOPA Video), which included more than 200 online articles written by staff and freelance contributors. Newsletters drove a significant portion of the 4.2 million page views of articles posted on aopa.org.
• The AOPA video team told the story of AOPA and GA through the production of more than 150 videos. Videos on AOPA’s YouTube channel (@flywithaopa) were viewed more than seven million times—a double-digit increase from 2024—and the channel ended the year with more than 114,000 subscribers.
• AOPA Presents, an occasional series of 10- to 25-minute mini documentaries produced by in-house videographers, premiered two new films: Under African Skies and Wiiings Not Required.
• The AOPA creative team won six Graphic Design USA awards, including the AOPA Sweepstakes Cessna 182 campaign and the magazine feature “Under African Skies,” which complemented the film.
• The media team surprised California pilot Jennifer Hortman with the keys to the AOPA Sweepstakes 1958 Cessna 182A at EAA AirVenture.
• AOPA secured access for members to a variety of distinct offers, including discounts on everything from headsets and propellers to travel.
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