Pelton: With More Than 332,000 Members, EAA Is ‘Doing Fine’

Asked about a succession strategy, Pelton said, 'I have no plans to call it quits.'

Jack Pelton. AVweb photo: Mark Phelps

Jack Pelton, EAA Chairman and CEO, addressed the press this afternoon on the current status of not just AirVenture 2025, but EAA itself. He started with a recent economic impact study that shows EAA contributes $257 million to the local economy annually. That contrasts with the last such study in 2017 that showed the association brought $171 million to the region per year. Pelton jokingly risked invoking the wrath of local residents by saying, “That’s more than the [Green Bay] Packers.”

He next discussed a two-hour-plus conversation he had with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, a former Wisconsin congressman, about the upcoming decision on Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC). Pelton said MOSAIC’s plan to change the current weight parameter for Light Sport aircraft to a performance-based model will be a “game changer” for general aviation. He described it as “Sport Pilot 2.0.” He said that at tomorrow’s 12:30 public session with Duffy at the EAA Member Center, the secretary will “hopefully say that MOSAIC has been signed.”

Pelton praised this year’s AirVenture salute to public benefit flying. “I didn’t realize there were so many groups,” he said, calling out as an example an organization of Robinson Helicopter operators who hovered into action during the North Carolina flooding to fly rescue and relief missions.

He also addressed the unleaded fuel controversy, citing the three main contenders for becoming the unleaded fuel of choice, and some of what he described as the underappreciated complications of gaining industrywide approval—specifically, the issues of production and distribution of the fuel,

Finally, Pelton applauded the continued and renewed success of the EAA Young Eagles Program. “From the beginning,” he said, “when Tom [Poberezny] and Greg Anderson conceived the effort, the goal was not to make kids pilots. The goal was to fly a lot of kids.” He said that part of the hope was to raise the 20% completion rate for private pilot students to 80% through scholarships and support from the 890 local EAA Chapters, which he referred to as “our churches.”

Mark Phelps

Mark Phelps is a senior editor at AVweb. He is an instrument rated private pilot and former owner of a Grumman American AA1B and a V-tail Bonanza.

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Replies: 2

  1. Avatar for Raf Raf says:

    The FAA lists 345,495 student pilot certificates, but they don’t expire. Realistically, only about 85,000 students are actively training.

    Out of those, around 26,000 earn their private pilot license each year, a 30.6% success rate. Meeting future demand would mean 40,000–45,000 private pilots annually, or 47–53% completion.

    About that 80% goal. It’s been repeated enough to sound like a formal target, but there’s no clear origin—or plan—for how to achieve it. Hitting 80% would mean certifying 68,000 out of the 85,000 active students. That’s $816 million at $12,000 per pilot—up to $1.36 billion at $20,000. And that’s just for private pilot training. However, most students pay their own way, join the military, or get employer support. Scholarships help but only reach a fraction.

    EAA’s role is important, but it’s about sparking interest, encouraging new starts, and guiding students forward, not funding 80% of completions. EAA excels at helping young people start flying. Its 890 chapters move students along and support scholarships, but they’re not carrying the entire pipeline.

    Groups like EAA, AOPA, and the Ray Foundation provide around $15 million annually in scholarships, enough for about 1,000–1,250 students. Helpful, but not enough to close the gap.

    A more realistic push? Raising completions to 47–53% could produce 40,000–45,000 new pilots a year. Still, that would cost $1.1–$1.5 billion at $12,000–$15,000 per student.

    Where We Stand and What’s Needed

    Here’s how the current pipeline looks—and where it needs to go:

    • Private pilots: ~26,000/year → Target: 40,000–45,000 (47%–53%)
    • Sport pilots: ~7,000/year → Target: 7,000–10,000
    • Commercial: ~9,000/year → Target: 15,000
    • CFIs: ~6,000/year → Target: 8,000–9,000
    • ATPs: ~10,000/year → Target: 10,000+
    • Instrument ratings: ~14,000/year → Target: 18,000–20,000
    • Multi-engine: ~3,500/year → Target: 6,000–7,000

    The bottom line:

    80% isn’t realistic, not from 345,495 total certificates, and not from 85,000 active students. Even 47–53% would strain resources, costing between $1 billion and $1.3 billion.

    EAA might support 1,000–1,250 students annually with $10–$15 million in scholarships. That’s meaningful, but not game-changing.

    Aviation has weathered worse. The system bends, but it holds. The goal, getting more students across the first threshold, is solid. The plan needs to be, too.

  2. I see he addressed the unleaded fuel issue, but really we are still without a drop in replacement for 100LL. What we need right now is a program to get UL91 or UL94 pumps available everywhere because this drop in replacement is not going to happen. So far one of the contenders in the UL100 race has dropped out and one of the other ones does not meet ASTM standards and the third has just proved that their UL100 fuel can be used in an airplane that could already use UL94, wahoo. No one wants to face up to the fact that we’re not gonna get a drop in replacement, which was a statement that was said by the first dropout in this process. It’s already way past time to move to Plan B and use the UL94 or UL91 fuels that are ASTM approved and can be used by 2/3 of all aircraft without an STC and all the rest could get an STC with minimal changes which might include water injection or inner coolers or larger inner coolers for turbo charged engine engines. EAA should be endorsing the change to UL91 or UL94 as it would be a big advancement for their members that are using Rotex engines and for the rest who want lower maintenance costs on the engine they currently use.
    My brother, who was at Oshkosh yesterday ask the AOPA president what will happen at the deadline if there is no drop-in replacement. He said they’ll probably just extend it.
    So it seems we are on this never ending effort to get to a solution that will never happen. Too bad we don’t have anybody that will stand up and say the truth and come up with a plan that is achievable.

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