AOPA members will vote on September 19, 2026 on the most significant revisions to the association’s governing bylaws in decades — a 14-page proposal that would establish trustee term limits, create an open nomination process allowing members to put forward candidates, introduce staggered three-year terms, set qualification requirements for trustees, and open the door to electronic voting. Under the proposal, trustees would generally be limited to four consecutive three-year terms, or 12 years, and prospective candidates would need to submit a nomination form, résumé, letter of interest, signatures from at least 10 members, and two letters of recommendation. The special member meeting begins at 11:30 a.m. Eastern at the National Aviation Community Center on the grounds of Frederick Municipal Airport (KFDK) in Maryland, and will be livestreamed.
The vote follows a turbulent period for the 87-year-old association, and the proposal appears designed to address much of the criticism that emerged from it. Here’s what’s being decided.
What’s Actually Changing
The current bylaws are notably thin on governance structure. As it stands, a trustee serves until resignation or until retired at a member election — there is no term limit and no defined process for removing a trustee mid-term. Similarly, no member may stand as a candidate for trustee without approval and recommendation from the Nominating Committee, and membership in the association is currently the only qualification required to serve.
The proposed revisions change each of those points.
Term limits. Trustees would generally be limited to four consecutive three-year terms — 12 years total. An exception would be possible under extraordinary circumstances, but would require supermajority support. Term limits would also apply to the board chairman under a modified officer structure.
Staggered terms. Beginning with the 2027 election, the board would move to staggered three-year terms, divided into three groups so that roughly one-third of trustees stand for election each year once the transition is complete. Staggering is standard practice in nonprofit governance — it preserves institutional continuity while ensuring regular member input.
An open nomination process. This is arguably the most consequential change. Rather than candidates emerging solely through the Nominating Committee, prospective trustees could seek nomination by submitting a nomination form, résumé, and letter of interest, along with signatures from at least 10 members and two letters of recommendation. The signature requirement is intended to demonstrate that a candidate has engaged with fellow members and built a baseline of grassroots support before coming before the committee.
An expanded Nominating Committee. The committee would grow from two members to three, chosen by a vote of the full board. It would review candidates and publicly announce the potential slate at least 30 days before the annual meeting — a transparency provision that gives members time to evaluate candidates rather than encountering them for the first time at the meeting.
Trustee qualifications. The proposal establishes specific qualification requirements to serve, replacing the current standard where association membership alone suffices.
Removal for cause. The revised bylaws would create a defined process for removing trustees before an election, which the current document lacks entirely.
Electronic voting. The proposal opens the path to online voting for trustee elections beginning in 2027. AOPA has noted that electronic voting is not possible under the current bylaws — which is why the September 19 session may be the last voting meeting conducted under the old in-person-and-proxy structure.
The Context Behind the Overhaul
The governance review didn’t emerge in a vacuum. AOPA has been through a turbulent 18 months at the leadership level.
February 2026: President and CEO Darren Pleasance stepped away from the role, a departure that generated significant member concern and criticism over how the board handled it.
March 2026: Luke Wippler, a trustee since 2015, was elected board chairman, replacing Jim Hauslein. Hauslein announced the broad strokes of a pending governance update alongside his intent to step down from the board in May.
April–June 2026: AOPA published draft bylaw changes with explanatory notes and a member feedback form. 154 members submitted comments before the feedback period closed in June.
May 12, 2026: At the annual meeting in Frederick, 177 assembled members and proxies elected an 11-member trustee slate to one-year terms — a deliberately short term intended to carry the board through the governance transition. Two new trustees, Peter Burwell and Ryan Samples, joined the board.
The association has seen substantial board turnover through this period, including six new board members since 2023, and is currently conducting a search for its next president and CEO.
A recurring member criticism throughout has been the perception that trustees served without term limits and therefore did not necessarily reflect a broad cross-section of the active membership. The proposed bylaws address that criticism directly.
AOPA has said the board reviewed the existing bylaws against modern nonprofit governance standards and the requirements of the New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation Act, under which the association is incorporated.
How the Vote Works
The mechanics matter, because they illustrate exactly why the electronic voting provision is on the table.
Under the current bylaws, only members physically present at the special meeting may vote. Members who cannot attend may appoint another member who will be present to vote by proxy on their behalf.
That structure is why a May meeting attended by 177 members and proxies decided the composition of the board of an organization with a membership in the hundreds of thousands. It’s also why the electronic voting provision has drawn attention: if adopted, future trustee elections could involve a far larger share of the membership than an in-person meeting in Maryland can accommodate.
For members who want to participate on September 19, the options are to attend in person at the National Aviation Community Center at KFDK, or to designate a proxy. The meeting begins at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, with lunch to follow, and will be livestreamed.
Why This Matters for General Aviation
AOPA is the largest general aviation membership organization in the world, founded on May 15, 1939, and it functions as the primary advocacy voice for GA pilots in Washington and in state capitals. Its positions shape debates on airport access, medical certification, user fees, avgas transition, and regulatory reform.
How that organization selects its leadership is therefore not an internal housekeeping matter. A board that turns over regularly, draws candidates from a broader pool, and answers to a membership that can actually vote is structurally more likely to reflect what working pilots want than one selected through a closed nominating process with indefinite tenure.
The proposal’s practical significance depends on execution. Term limits and staggered terms are meaningful only if the open nomination process actually surfaces candidates outside the existing network — and the Nominating Committee retains a gatekeeping role even under the revised structure. The 30-day public slate announcement and the electronic voting provision are the elements most likely to change how much influence ordinary members have in practice.
The Bottom Line
AOPA members will decide on September 19 whether to adopt bylaw revisions that would impose 12-year term limits on trustees, move the board to staggered three-year terms beginning in 2027, allow members to nominate candidates with 10 signatures and two letters of recommendation, expand the Nominating Committee to three members, establish trustee qualifications and a removal-for-cause process, and clear the way for electronic voting.
The changes follow a period that included the departure of a president and CEO, a change of board chairman, substantial board turnover, and pointed member criticism about transparency and accountability. Whether they deliver the responsiveness members have been asking for will depend less on the text than on how the new nomination process works in practice — but for an organization whose governing document has gone largely unchanged for decades, the vote is a genuine inflection point.
The full proposed bylaws are posted for member review on AOPA’s website.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the AOPA bylaws vote? AOPA members will vote on the proposed bylaw revisions at a special member meeting on Saturday, September 19, 2026, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Eastern at the National Aviation Community Center on the grounds of Frederick Municipal Airport (KFDK) in Frederick, Maryland. Lunch will follow the meeting, and the session will be livestreamed. Under the current bylaws, only members present may vote, though members may designate a proxy to vote on their behalf.
What term limits are being proposed for AOPA trustees? The proposed bylaws would generally limit trustees to four consecutive three-year terms — 12 years of service. An exception would be possible under extraordinary circumstances but would require supermajority support. The proposal also modifies the officer structure, including establishing term limits for the board chairman. The current bylaws contain no term limits at all.
How would the new AOPA trustee nomination process work? Under the proposal, prospective trustee candidates would submit a nomination form, résumé, and letter of interest, along with signatures from at least 10 AOPA members and two letters of recommendation. The Nominating Committee — expanded from two members to three, chosen by a vote of the full board — would review candidates and publicly announce the potential slate at least 30 days before the annual meeting. The current bylaws provide only that no member may be a candidate without Nominating Committee approval.
Why is AOPA changing its bylaws now? The governance review follows a period of significant leadership change and member criticism. President and CEO Darren Pleasance stepped away from his role in February 2026, and Luke Wippler replaced Jim Hauslein as board chairman in March. A recurring member concern was that trustees served without term limits and did not necessarily represent a broad cross-section of the membership. AOPA has said the board reviewed its bylaws against modern nonprofit governance standards and the New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation Act, and 154 members submitted feedback on the draft before the comment period closed in June.
Will AOPA move to electronic voting? The proposed bylaws would clear the way for electronic voting in trustee elections beginning in 2027. AOPA has noted that online voting is not possible under the current bylaws, meaning the September 19 special meeting may be the last voting session conducted under the existing in-person and proxy structure. Electronic voting would allow a substantially larger share of the membership to participate than an in-person meeting can accommodate.
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