A working Board of Directors manages the organization. Currently, there are no Executive Director or staff, however the Council does compensate a company to maintain the accounting records and memberships. We have a small office located at the International Airport courtesy of Executive Flight Centre Aviation.

The Board has four executive members: Chair, Vice-Chair,Treasurer and Secretary. The executive normally meets once a month. Within the Board structure, there are numerous portfolios and responsibilities assigned to Directors who report back to the council on any items relating to that category. As for meetings, there are at least three Board of Director meetings a year not including the AGM. Our bylaws indicate we can have up to 25 Directors and every Director must have membership status with the AAC.

As a registered non-profit organization, we are registered with the Alberta Societies Registry. The Council has a license to initiate fundraising activities through the AGLC. AAC is slotted for casinos approximately every 14 months. The AAC is also a registered charity with the CRA and can accept donations. Our income is primarily generated from a few sources: memberships, casinos and donations. The general membership revenue is directed towards operational expenses while the casino funds are directed to specific projects including the Facility Map. This map identifies all the airstrips and navigational information within the Province of Alberta. We also utilize our casino funds to support youth in aviation, primarily the air cadets. Funds are also set aside for scholarships and training at post-secondary institutions.

The Alberta government also had an Aviation Branch, which operated from 1986-1996 within the department of Transportation.

AAC worked with the Aviation Branch to support small airports such as Camrose, Wetaskiwin, Edson, and Drayton Valley. Seminars and workshops were provided to municipalities to assist them in the operation of the airports in their local community. The branch covered government airports, municipal airports and the small airports throughout the province. Several airports were built with financial aid from the provincial government but with no direct funding to support them after 1996, a few have closed, and some may be closing in the near future.

At one time the Council’s membership included all airports. Some of the airport members decided to separate from the AAC and they created their own organization, Alberta Airports Management Association (AAMA). Many of these airports are members of both the AAC and AAMA.

In addition, the AAC no longer has the two international airports (Calgary and Edmonton) at this time. It is our goal to bring all of the large and local airports into the AAC membership.

The AAC is embarking in a new direction with the introduction of the Strategic Aviation Advisory Council (SAAC) Act, Bill 201. This Bill will collectively bring aviation stakeholders together to provide the Government of Alberta recommendations to form transportation policy around the aviation and aerospace industries in Alberta.

The new council for the SAAC is planned to be in existence for four years and will face a significant challenge to complete its mandate. As the Advisory Council evolves, so will the AAC and we will be looking at revisiting our mission and our goals to align with the SAAC and the needs of our members. The input of our Directors will be important to keep us a viable and visible representative of aviation and aerospace in the province. Once the mandate of SAAC has concluded in four years, the AAC will continue to fulfill and serve our aviation community in Alberta.