About GAMA

Mission

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) exists to foster and advance the general welfare, safety, interests and activities of the global business and general aviation industry. This includes promoting a better understanding of general aviation manufacturing, maintenance, repair, and overhaul and the important role these industry segments play in economic growth and opportunity, and in serving the critical transportation needs of communities, companies and individuals worldwide.

Vision

Our vision is to be recognized as the most effective trade association in business and general aviation, aerospace manufacturing, and in the maintenance, repair and overhaul domain through:

Enhancing safety through innovation and the promotion of quality training
Facilitating improvements in certification, audit and regulatory processes
Fostering sustainable general and business aviation growth
Promoting the economic impact and societal benefits of general and business aviation
Achieving organizational excellence

History

Use the scrollbar to read through pages in our organizaion’s history.

1970

GAMA holds its first organizational meeting on January 2, 1970 in Washington, DC, and its first Board meeting that year. The association’s mission: “to foster and advance the general welfare, safety, interests, and activities of general aviation.” In November, GAMA’s Board of Directors elects Vice President Edward W. Stimpson to serve as its President following the death of its first President Joseph T. Geuting, Jr. Stimpson served as GAMA’s President for more than 25 years.

1976

GAMA Chairman Frank E. Hedrick, left, of Beech meets with U.S. President Gerald R. Ford to thank him for recognizing the significance of general aviation in air transportation. Throughout its history, GAMA has advocated the interests of general aviation manufacturers to top policy and regulatory leaders.

1982

GAMA and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) partner to launch the “No Plane No Gain” campaign. The joint program highlights the value of business aviation as a cost-effective tool for increasing the efficiency, productivity, and profitability of companies. Although the original campaign ceased in 2004, it was brought back in 2009 to focus renewed attention to general aviation’s significant value for business and humanitarian causes and its U.S. economic impact.

1994

U.S. President Bill Clinton signs into law the General Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA), which established a time limit for general aviation manufacturers’ liability on aircraft with 19 or fewer seats. GARA led to new product development and thousands of new jobs among U.S. general aviation manufacturers.

1996

Ed Bolen becomes GAMA’s President. Bolen previously worked as GAMA’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

1998

Former GAMA President and GAMA Vice Chairman Edward Stimpson, center, receives the aviation industry’s highest honor, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, for his “uniquely effective leadership in the field of general aviation.”

2001

Following the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S., GAMA works with other aviation associations to reopen airspace to general aviation operators in a manner consistent with national security and helps establish a database for companies that want to make their aircraft available for relief flights.

2002

GAMA’s Board of Directors votes to expand the association’s membership to include manufacturers based outside the United States. GAMA currently has members throughout the United States and Europe, and in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and China.

2003

President George W. Bush signs into law the Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act in November. The bill contains important provisions for general aviation, including authorization of certification of design organizations (CDO), protection from the unauthorized use of type certificates, the return of general aviation operations to Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, and a change in responsibility for conducting background checks on aliens seeking flight training from the U.S. Department of Justice to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. Photo of Ronald Reagan National Airport courtesy of Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

2005

Peter J. Bunce is named GAMA’s President and CEO. A 26-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Bunce most recently served as Director of the Air Force Congressional Budget and Appropriations Liaison. An active pilot, he has more than 7,000 hours in military fighter and training aircraft, as well as civil piston, turboprop, and business jet aircraft.

2009

GAMA opens its European office in Brussels, Belgium, home of the European Union’s governmental institutions. This is GAMA’s first office outside the United States.

2009

GAMA holds its first General Aviation Jobs Rally at Dassault Falcon in Little Rock, Arkansas. The rallies—whose speakers include governors, U.S. members of Congress, and top industry leaders—share the message of general aviation industry’s powerful economic impact with member company employees, students, veterans, the media, and general aviation enthusiasts. GAMA has now held more than a dozen rallies in states across the U.S.

2011

GAMA’s Board of Directors votes to add rotorcraft manufacturers to GAMA’s membership; Bell Helicopter is its first rotorcraft member. “Growing our membership to include rotorcraft manufacturers allows GAMA to better advocate for and promote the interests of the entire general aviation industry throughout the world,” GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce says.

2012

The U.S. Congress passes the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which President Obama signs into law in February. Among the legislation’s provisions are Section 312, which drives recommendations on how the FAA should streamline the process for certifying new aircraft and technologies, and Section, which 313 seeks to increase consistency in interpreting FAA regulations. Both areas are important to general aviation.

2013

GAMA and Build A Plane partner to hold the inaugural Aviation Design Challenge, a competition to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) among U.S. high school students. The winners spend two weeks at Glasair Aviation in Arlington, Washington building a Glasair Sportsman airplane. GAMA members sponsor the teams’ trips.

2013

U.S. President Barack Obama signs into law the Small Airplane Revitalization Act (SARA), which seeks to increase safety while reducing certification costs for light general aviation airplanes. Once SARA is enacted, manufacturers will be able to comply with certification requirements by meeting consensus-based standards agreed to by the FAA and industry rather than prescriptive, technology-dependent requirements that rely on assumptions based on weight and propulsion type. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

2014

GAMA’s Brussels’ office hosts the first European Regional Meeting with speakers from the European Commission and EASA leadership, and participation from GAMA’s global membership. Based on the value of this meeting, the event has grown in attendance and scope each year with European members engaging in important dialogue, and EU senior officials and GAMA member companies from throughout the world sending representatives to oversee strategic issues that affect general aviation manufacturing and operations in Europe. Shown here are GAMA Board Members who attended the meeting in 2015.

2015

GAMA is one of five organizers of the Arsenal of Democracy: World War II Victory Capitol Flyover. More than 50 vintage World War II military airplanes flew over Washington, DC to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.

2015

GAMA’s Board of Directors votes to create a new associate membership category for electric and hybrid propulsion aircraft. “As we look toward the future, we see this aerodynamically innovative emerging propulsion technology facilitating totally new aircraft designs that remain very safe, highly reliable, and may dramatically lower the operational costs of flying,” GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce notes in announcing the new member category.

2016

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta announced the finalization of the new Part 23 rule for the light end of the general aviation market. Rather than having to comply with overly prescriptive design requirements, manufacturers will now be able to more nimbly respond in a cost-effective manner through performance-based airworthiness safety rules and consensus standards for compliance. The new Part 23 rule is part of a global effort to develop common certification standards.

2017

Led the industry charge in Congress to defeat legislation calling for the privatization of the U.S. Air Traffic Control (ATC) system

2018

Championed provisions incorporated into the 2018 FAA Reauthorization bill that improves aviation safety, streamline regulatory burdens, strengthen job creation, encourage competitiveness and innovation, and stimulate exports.

2020

Successfully advocated for the inclusion of Safety Management Systems (SMS) for manufacturers in the Aircraft Certification, Safety and Accountability Act.

2020

Supported the successful implementation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) mandates in the United States (January 1) and European Union (December 7) with high-levels of airborne equipage across the business and general aviation aircraft fleet.

2021

Championed and ushered through the U.S. Congress the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection program which provided millions in grants to manufacturers to strengthen the industry’s fragile supply chain and keep highly skilled workers in the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021

Through comprehensive technical coordination, GAMA led the charge for an aggressive goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and continued technology with the industry’s updated Business Aviation Commitment on Climate Change (BACCC).

2022

Organized the launch of the Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) initiative to initiate and develop the transition piston-engine aircraft to lead-free aviation fuels by the end of 2030, without compromising the existing U.S. transportation infrastructure system, aviation safety, and the economic and broader public benefits of general aviation.

2022

Spearheaded the European Commission’s Drone Leaders Group, which provided the basis for the development of the Drone Strategy 2.0, which included the 2030 vision for Unmanned Aviation and Innovative Air Mobility (IAM) in Europe.

2022

Inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame as part of the Distinguished Class of 2022

2022

Championed and ushered through the U.S. Congress the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act, which ensures that U.S. federal government agencies and departments are coordinated and prepared as the industry further progresses towards the introduction of advanced air mobility vehicles into the national airspace system.