An 8,000-hour general aviation pilot with a diverse “fleet” of personal aircraft will be the next (and sixth, ever) president and CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), as of on Jan. 1, 2025. Darren Pleasance also has a strong background in business, most recently as leader of Cisco Systems’ Acceleration Center, whose corporate mission was “to accelerate the success of mission-critical aspects of Cisco’s business transformation.”
But early in his career, Pleasance served as a corporate pilot, including a stint flying professionally for John Travolta’s flight operation and charter bush flying in Alaska. From there, he went on to lead global customer acquisitions for Google and was a partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Company’s high-tech sector and marketing and sales practice before moving to Cisco. Pleasance holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Maintaining a current certified flight instructor (CFI) rating, Pleasance owns a Piper Meridian, a Vans RV-6 and a Progressive Aerodyne SeaRay amphibian. He has also served on the board of the Experimental Aircraft Association for many years, according to AOPA.
Mark Baker, whom Pleasance will replace after 11 years as AOPA’s top executive, called AOPA’s new leader “a pilot’s pilot with a genuine passion for flying. He combines that excitement about aviation with leadership experience at some of this country’s top consulting and tech firms, giving him the right balance of business skills and kinship with our members.”
Pleasance said, “I’m grateful for the privilege I’m being given to lead this incredible organization that has had such a positive impact on my life and the lives of all of us who love aviation.”
