Dear Members, friends, and supporters of Young Pilots USA,
As the originator and founder of our organization, it pains me greatly to announce that effective January 13th, 2024, Young Pilots USA, an educational program of Tunison Foundation, Inc., will close permanently. Due to a combination of financial and logistical challenges associated with our mission to serve America's next generation of aviation professionals and enthusiasts as their members' association, we find ourselves in an untenable position and must suspend all operations. In addition to our financial and logistical problems, the Executive Board has come to the conclusion that our nationwide network of Chapters, key to our mission and structure, are not the most effective way of advocating for and supporting young people in our industry. I hope you will appreciate that we gave this structure a college try for nearly three and a half years, with limited results, and now choose to direct our community to other organizations better equipped to serve them.
It has been a great privilege to share with thousands of aviators our passion for advancing youth in our industry. To my knowledge, this is the first attempt ever to create an organization by and for young people in our industry, and I am proud of our major achievements, including the Goodspeed Fly-Ins in 2021 and 2022, the Coast-to-Coast Cub promotional project in 2021, the energy and enthusiasm surrounding our founding in 2020, and our nationwide network of nearly 30 chapters, culminating in our logistically successful, if financially troubled, presence at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2023.
I am happy to answer any questions you may have, and am pleased to direct all of you to a variety of organizations that may partly fill the gap in our industry's nonprofit groups left by the closure of Young Pilots USA, listed below:
– The Ninety-Nines
– NBAA
These organizations form only a partial list of the many that share our goals for the next generation of aviators; we encourage you all, as we have for the last three and a half years, to pursue your path in flight wherever your interests lie. This is the end of the road for Young Pilots USA, but it is certainly not for our many Members and supporters. We hope to see you all again in smoother, clearer skies.
Tailwinds and blue skies,
Luc Zipkin
Founder | Vice President, Finance
Young Pilots USA