SAFA Skysailor Magazine

5 July | August 2023 SKY SAILOR President’s Update by Paul Green Aviation Liability Insurance As members are aware, SAFA was advised late in June that our insurer had considered de- clining to continue providing Aviation Liability to us. The consequences of this could have been catastrophic for our sport. Following urgent representation by our broker, the insurer agreed to continue providing cover, subject to our acceptance of two significant changes to existing arrangements. The first was a substantial increase in the premium cost to SAFA and the second required that each commercial operator/instructor would need to be covered under their own personally owned Aviation Liability policy (i.e., they could no longer be covered under SAFA’s policy). To assist commercial operators/instructors, we conducted a Zoom information session which was also attended by senior representa- tives from our brokers. The meeting focussed primarily on the needs of our commercial operators/instructors. They are the means by which new pilots enter our SAFA membership and their ability to continue to operate profitably and efficiently is, quite simply, a stay-in-business issue for our sport. The session was well attended and we were able to provide a more detailed explanation of the factors contributing to the changes, as well as respond to the many questions asked by attendees. Importantly, we were also able to clarify some misconceptions that had arisen following the Airwaves announcements. We intend running another Zoom meeting for this group once we have some feedback from the insurers. There is a clear benefit in having meetings of this type. We are therefore looking to run similar sessions for members, designed to provide information and clarity around the issues, as well as respond to questions members may have. An Airwaves providing relevant details will be sent in the near future, and I encourage all members to take advantage of this opportunity when it is announced. Photo courtesy: 18th FAI PG Worlds, Chamoux sur Gelon, France, 20 May to 3 June 2023