In March of 2011, the Department of Transportation made a shocking change which eliminated the Blocked Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program.  The BARR system enabled personal and corporate aircraft operators such as myself to block tracking of our aircraft so that they couldn’t be tracked by anonymous users with nothing more than a web browser.  Once dismantled, competitors and random people online could see every move we made in our aircraft, the equivalent of allowing someone to go online and see the movements of every road you take and location you visit in your personal or company vehicle.  Obviously, this not only caused quite a stir in the aviation industry, but also had much larger implications for society as a whole if this same principal of complete online visibility was applied in the future to other types of vehicles.  Our basic right to privacy had been eliminated, but fortunately, there were numerous industry groups ready to battle this misguided move by our government.  Among those groups were the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association), the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) and the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association).

Throughout the course of the BARR fight, I spoke with numerous media outlets to help explain why this change was a poor decision and how it would affect small businesses such as my own.  I was also in contact with numerous political leaders, urging them to work towards reversing this wrong that had been committed against so many people and businesses such as my own.

On November 17th of 2011, I got an early Christmas present when I received word that the BARR fight was over – WE WERE VICTORIOUS!  I was absolutely thrilled to say the least.  Congress stepped in and reinstated the BARR program which sent a clear message that the rights of privacy were still important to the American people and businesses.

I certainly very thankful and appreciative to each of the aviation industry organizations who worked so diligently to protect the rights of aircraft owners and operators everywhere.  I’m also very appreciative of our elected leaders who did the right thing by ensuring the privacy of the citizens and businesses they represent remains protected.

Interview #1

After the victory was announced, I was honored to be interviewed for NBAA’s Flight Plan Podcast with host Pete Combs. You can read a full article, Congress Reinstates the BARR – What’s Next? by clicking here.   At the bottom of the article there’s the full audio portion of the interview.  I’ve also included a link directly to the audio interview here for your convenience.

Read the Full Article at the NBAA Site:  Congress Reinstates the BARR – What’s Next?
Listen to the Full Audio Interview:  Listen Now

Interview #2

Additionally, as a follow-up to this story, Pete Combs did another segment during his 2011 year in review series.  You can read the full article, BARR Battle Figured Prominently for Industry in 2011 by clicking here.  At the bottom of the article there’s the full audio portion of the interview.  I’ve also included a link directly to the audio interview here for your convenience.

Read the Full Article at the NBAA Site:  BARR Battle Figured Prominently for Industry in 2011
Listen to the Full Audio Interview:  Listen Now

Thanks again to everyone who worked so diligently to make this victory possible!

The aviation trade show season is upon us and the I hope that you’ll plan on joining me at two great aviation events which are happening soon.

The first is the 2011 AOPA (Airplane Owners & Pilots Association) Aviation Summit which is being held in Hartford, Connecticut from September 22nd-24th.  I’ll be speaking at this event regarding utilizing general aviation aircraft for business purposes.  You can find out more information and register this event by visiting:  http://www.aopa.org/summit/

The next event is the 2011 NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) 64th Annual Meeting & Convention which is being held in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada from October 10th-12th.  I’m an avid fan of the great work the folks at the NBAA do each day to promote the use of general aviation and know this will be a fantastic event.  You can find out more information and register for this event by visiting:  http://www.nbaa.org/events/amc/2011/

I’ll see you soon at both of these not-to-be-missed aviation events in Hartford and Las Vegas!

I recently had the honor of being featured in the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Pilot Magazine.  The article was written by Ian Twombly, who did a magnificent job of illustrating how I use our company aircraft, a Cirrus SR22, to bring our business to new heights.  This is part of series of articles for a campaign called GA Serves America which highlights the many ways our country benefits from the use of general aviation aircraft.  It was a really enjoyable experience talking and flying with Ian.  Chris Rose also deserves a lot of credit for doing an amazing job with the photography / video for the project and was a pleasure to work with as well.  I’m also very thankful to Cirrus Aircraft and their incredible staff for their role in making this article a reality – our Cirrus SR22 is certainly the star in being a game-changer for our business!

You can read the complete article in the AOPA Pilot Magazine, or online at http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/2009/november/gaservesamerica0911.html

The article is also available in PDF format which can be downloaded by visiting:  http://www.bradleypierce.com/AOPA%20Magazine%20-%20Flying%20the%20Friendly%20Skies.pdf