Homebuilding, Designees Program Highlighted at FAA Town Hall

April 8, 2021 – Sean Elliott, EAA's vice president of advocacy and safety, was among the general aviation association leaders who on Monday participated in the FAA's GA Town Hall Meeting that focused on the changes to the GA community because of COVID-19.

Sean's section of the town hall meeting (which appears beginning at about the 48-minute mark) included emphasis on areas such as the increased number of homebuilt projects started during the pandemic, the emergence of online and remote training tools, and the importance of the designee community that provides resources that cannot be addressed solely by FAA staff.

"One area that is especially important for EAA is the continuation of needed services and community interaction from FAA for GA. With the continuing travel restrictions for many FAA staff, the designee community is the only option to supplement some of those restrictions. Although technology has allowed many connections to remain and even be enhanced, the ability to get certain functions complete remain a challenge in some parts of the country," Elliott said.

EAA is hoping those agency travel restrictions can be eased in time to allow for the connections that benefit GA during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in July.