NAAA sent a mailing last week to its voting members informing them of three proposed amendments to its bylaws. NAAA’s Board of Directors approved the amendments for voting member consideration at its spring meeting in February. 

 

The first amendment would add the failure to adhere to NAAA’s newly enacted code of conduct for members as grounds for discipline or suspension for up to one year to the suspension criteria permitted under NAAA’s bylaws. The code of conduct, which NAAA’s Board approved in February, states:

1. NAAA members will operate in a manner that reflects the professionalism and ethical nature of the aerial application industry. 
2. NAAA members will respond in a timely and professional manner regarding complaints about issues including but not limited to alleged noise, low-level flight or off-target movement of product. When there is misinformation or a misunderstanding about their operation by the public, media or government, members will make efforts to educate and inform as needed. 
3. When addressing the media (traditional, social or otherwise), NAAA members will present themselves and their statements professionally and courteously. 
4. NAAA members will refrain from making disparaging, misinformed allegations about the industry and will operate their businesses in a manner that best represents the agricultural aviation industry and the communities in which their businesses operate. 
5. NAAA members will be accurate when advertising or promoting the services that they provide. All claims will be able to be verified by appropriate industry standards.
6. In their dealings with each other and with NAAA staff, NAAA members will uphold the highest standards of professional and respectful conduct (including sensitivity to others), and will engage in no harassing, offensive or other inappropriate behavior.

The second bylaws amendment would eliminate the condition that operators and pilots must also belong to a state or regional agricultural aviation association to join NAAA as an operator or pilot member. The board elected to drop this requirement for several reasons. First, placing restrictions on operators and pilots’ ability to become members of NAAA may limit the industry’s professionalism collectively. Second, it could limit resources NAAA needs to deliver core services and carry out its mission on behalf of the agricultural aviation industry. Finally, it is difficult for NAAA’s staff to police who is or isn’t a member of a state/regional ag aviation association. Thirty-four state and regional ag aviation associations in the U.S. function in association with but independently from NAAA. That makes it challenging for staff to administer the NAAA operator and pilot member conditions as currently written. The NAAA Board realizes the tremendous value of the state/regional associations and does not believe this change will have a negative effect on membership at the state/regional association level.

 

The third amendment would subject all Allied Industry board members to elections from the full allied membership in attendance at the convention meeting rather than only by members of their individual Allied division (Airframe, Application Technology, Chemical, Dealer/Parts, Insurance, Propulsion, Support). NAAA’s legal counsel suggested this amendment to document the procedures to elect Allied Industry board members and also expand the electorate of voters from an individual Allied Industry division category to the entire pool of Allied Industry members to have a more robust population to vet the candidates.

 

Later this summer NAAA voting members will receive an electronic ballot via email to go to a secure website to vote on these proposals. Before voting, notice must be given to the membership of these proposed changes as called for under Article XI ‒ Amendments, Section 1 of NAAA’s bylaws, which states “the distribution of a copy of the proposal” must be provided to eligible members at least 30 days before voting commences on such action. The full memo on the proposed amendments to NAAA’s bylaws is available here.

 

The actual vote will take place between August and September by email/web-vote using associationvoting.com services as allowed under NAAA’s bylaws, Article XI – Amendments, Section 1. For an amendment to be considered approved, the number of ballots returned must equal or exceed the number of voting members necessary to establish a quorum, and at least a majority of those voting members casting a ballot must vote in favor of the amendments.