GAMA wrapped up its latest board of directors meeting on October 24, naming the next slate of officers and paving the way for further expansion of the association with a new associate member category for electric and hybrid propulsion aircraft.

The 2016 board will be led by Duncan Aviation president and CEO Aaron Hilkemann as chairman. Hilkemann, who has been vice chair, takes over from Hartzell president Joe Brown. Brown will remain on the executive committee.

Succeeding Hilkemann as vice chair is Piper Aircraft president and Simon Caldecott. Elected to new positions were Gulfstream president Mark Burns as chair of GAMA's airworthiness and maintenance policy committee; David Paddock, senior v-p and general manager of Jet Aviation’s U.S. Aircraft Services, as chair of the communications committee; and Wipaire president Chuck Wiplinger as chair of the technical policy committee. 

GAMA also agreed to add an associate member category to work with companies involved in the research and development of electric and hybrid propulsion air vehicles. “We see this aerodynamically innovative emerging propulsion technology facilitating totally new aircraft designs that remain safe, highly reliable and may dramatically lower the operational costs of flying,” said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce.

This would further expand the association’s membership, which recently reached its highest total in GAMA's 45-year history with the addition of seven more companies earlier this month. The additions—Celestica, Elliott Aviation, Gogo, Luxaviation Group, Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics, TRU Simulation + Training, and Yingling Aviation—pushed GAMA’s member total to 91 companies.