The Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association (AOPA) has named Darren Pleasance as its sixth president and chief executive. Pleasance, who will assume this new role on 1 January, 2025 brings a wealth of aviation and business experience.

“I'm honoured with the opportunity I'm being given to help steward AOPA forward into the future, and I'm inspired by the role AOPA will continue to play in protecting our freedom to fly,” says Pleasance, whose aviation journey began when he was just a teenager, first when he got involved in flying model aircraft and later doing chores around the airport in exchange for flying lessons.

Pleasance has gone on to fly over 8,000 hours in more than 50 different types of aircraft, ranging from simple trainers to business jets to vintage warbirds, including a North American P-51 Mustang. Early in his career he flew as a corporate pilot, working for celebrities such as John Travolta before going on to fly charters in the Alaskan bush. He left professional aviation to pursue a career in business, but he never stopped flying. Today he owns and operates a Piper Meridian, a Van's Aircraft RV-6 and a Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey amphibious airplane while maintaining currency as a certificated flight instructor.

Most recently, Pleasance led Cisco Systems’s Acceleration Center, an organisation formed to accelerate the success of mission-critical aspects of Cisco's business transformation. Prior to joining Cisco, he led global customer acquisitions for Google and served as a partner in consulting firm McKinsey & Company’s high tech sector and marketing and sales practice. Throughout his business career, Pleasance has remained active in aviation, serving for many years on the board of the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Pleasance often cites aviation as a source of inspiration and joy. Recognising that many of the successful and wealthy people he has known and worked with were unhappy, Pleasance authored a well-regarded book, True North: A Handbook for Inspired Living, which leads readers through a practical guide to finding fulfilment.

Pleasance succeeds Mark Baker, who has served more than 11 years in the top spot at AOPA. Baker announced his intention to retire earlier this year, but committed to remain in the job and assist in the search until the right leader could be found.

“I'm confident that Darren is the right person to lead AOPA into its next chapter,” he says. “He is 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.”

AOPA's board of trustees conducted a wide-ranging search to find the right leader for the organisation.

“We could not be more gratified about Darren taking the left seat at AOPA,” says chairman of the board Bill Trimble. “After completing an extensive national search we met with many terrific candidates, but all agreed that Darren brings a wealth of experience coupled with a joy of flying that will be critical for leading AOPA's mission going forward. We are so grateful for Mark's hard work over the past 11 years and look forward to Darren's leadership at this important time for general aviation.”

“I'm grateful for the privilege I'm being given to lead this incredible organisation that has had such a positive impact on my life and the lives of all of us who love aviation,” says Pleasance.

He is welcomed also by NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, who says: “Over the course of decades, NBAA and AOPA have developed an extremely strong working relationship based on promoting the freedom to fly. Over that time, AOPA has been led by presidents who have combined a deep passion for aviation with a strong business acumen and an ability to leverage AOPA's membership into laws and regulations that benefit aviators everywhere.

“Naming Darren as the next AOPA president is clearly consistent with the kind of committed, powerful leadership for which AOPA is known, and we look forward to working with him closely in the years ahead.”

NBAA has long had an effective relationship with AOPA on numerous key issues facing the general aviation community. Among the initiatives on which both associations collaborated during Baker's tenure include promoting pilots’ rights, developing the industry’s next generation workforce and successfully combating attempts to privatise the nation's air traffic control system.

Most recently, AOPA and NBAA joined with other aviation associations to champion the GA community's efforts to remove lead from aviation gasoline through the FAA's Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) initiative.

“For more than 10 years in the left seat at AOPA and throughout his entire career, Mark has been a steadfast advocate for the entire GA community and a true friend to business aviation,” Bolen adds. “We're profoundly grateful for his leadership, his friendship and the incredibly positive impact he's had on aviation.”

Pleasance holds a BSC in mechanical engineering from the University of California and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.