If You’re the “Only” Advocacy Group, Where Were You in Denver?

P4HR is approaching the halfway point toward raising the second $5,000 in our community challenge. As supporters decide where to put their advocacy dollars, we believe they deserve to ask a basic question: Who is actually showing up?

A little more than a week ago, one supporter made an extraordinary $5,000 contribution to Pilots for HIMS Reform and challenged the rest of this community to help us turn that gift into $10,000. Since then, supporters have continued stepping forward, and we are now approaching the halfway point toward raising the additional $5,000.

That progress matters for more than financial reasons. Every advocacy organization needs resources, but donations are ultimately a vote of confidence in the work being done. People deserve to know what their contributions are supporting, where their money is going, and whether the organizations asking for that support are actually showing up when and where the important conversations are taking place.

That brings us to a question we believe the aviation community should be asking openly: Where was the Pilot Mental Health Campaign in Denver?

The “Only Advocacy Group”?

The Pilot Mental Health Campaign currently describes itself on its own website as “the only advocacy group dedicated to creating a modern aeromedical system that works for both pilots and passengers.” That is a significant claim, particularly because it ignores the very real advocacy work being conducted by Pilots for HIMS Reform and others in this space. Readers can review PMHC’s wording directly on its website.

Earlier this month, the people who administer, teach, influence, study, and participate in HIMS gathered in Denver for the 2026 HIMS Basic Education Seminar. Pilots for HIMS Reform was there, for the second consecutive year.

We attended the presentations, listened carefully, took notes, spoke with physicians and HIMS professionals, engaged with people connected to the FAA, and carried into those conversations the concerns pilots have entrusted to us. Where we disagreed, we challenged ideas. Where there was useful information, we listened. And when the seminar concluded, we reported back to the aviation community about what was said and what it could mean for pilots navigating the HIMS system. Our Denver coverage remains available in the P4HR Articles Library.

We did not see a visible Pilot Mental Health Campaign presence representing pilots at the seminar. As of September 24, our review of PMHC’s public website and press-release archive also found no announcement or recap showing PMHC participation in the 2026 Denver HIMS seminar. If PMHC was present in some capacity that we missed, we welcome the correction. But based on the public record available to us, the absence of a visible presence raises a fair question for an organization that continues to describe itself as the only advocacy group in this field.

Advocacy Requires More Than a Label

This is not an argument that PMHC has accomplished nothing. That would be inaccurate and unnecessary. PMHC has conducted advocacy on Capitol Hill, supported federal legislation related to pilot mental health and aeromedical reform, and participated in other initiatives involving aviation mental health. Its February 2026 Advocacy Day brought volunteers to congressional offices to support the Mental Health in Aviation Act and Aviation Medication Transparency Act. Those activities deserve to be acknowledged on their own merits.

But acknowledging that work does not make the “only advocacy group” claim any more accurate. Pilots for HIMS Reform exists. We are actively engaged in this work. We are filing petitions, gathering pilot data, publishing research and analysis, collecting personal stories, participating in oversight efforts, communicating with aviation medical professionals, and engaging with FAA leadership. We are attending the meetings where HIMS is actually being discussed, and we are bringing information back to the pilots affected by those policies.

That is advocacy. And when the HIMS community gathered in Denver, we showed up.

Donors Should Ask What Their Money Is Supporting

We believe donors in the aviation mental-health and aeromedical-reform space should ask difficult questions before deciding where to contribute. What is the organization actually doing? Where is it going? Who is it meeting with? What information is it producing? What concrete work has resulted from the money it has already received?

Those questions should be asked of P4HR as well. We welcome them. We want supporters to look at our record: the petitions we have filed, the data we are collecting, the stories we are publishing, the seminars we attend, the conversations we participate in, and the public information we bring back afterward. Advocacy should be visible enough that supporters do not have to rely solely on an organization’s own description of itself.

There is a substantial difference between claiming a place in the advocacy landscape and consistently doing the work required to occupy it.

Your Donations Put an Independent Pilot Voice in the Room

When someone contributes $25, $50, $100, $500, or more to P4HR, we understand that contribution represents trust. It is a request to keep asking questions, keep gathering evidence, keep challenging policies when the evidence does not support them, and keep representing pilots who may not feel able to speak publicly for themselves.

Those contributions help make it possible for P4HR to be physically present when important conversations happen. They help support the research, travel, technology, communications, public-record work, and infrastructure necessary for an independent organization to continue operating.

Denver is an example of why that matters. Rather than discussing the HIMS system exclusively from outside the room, P4HR was there listening directly to the people involved in it. We were able to hear what was being taught, engage members of the aviation medical community, ask questions, identify issues worth further investigation, and bring those discussions back to pilots afterward. That is the type of work your donations support.

We Are Approaching the Halfway Point

When one donor gave P4HR $5,000, that supporter challenged the broader community to collectively raise another $5,000 and turn the original gift into $10,000 worth of momentum for reform. We are now approaching the halfway point toward raising that second $5,000.

Those contributions are not coming from the FAA, an airline, or a large institutional sponsor. They are coming from individuals who believe pilots deserve a meaningful, independent voice in conversations about aeromedical policy and HIMS reform.

So as this challenge continues, we are asking supporters to help us finish it. We are also asking the aviation community to look carefully at every organization seeking its financial support. Look beyond slogans. Look beyond organizational descriptions. Look at who is attending the meetings, gathering the evidence, publishing the information, asking the difficult questions, and reporting back afterward.

If an organization claims to represent pilots in aeromedical reform, pilots should reasonably expect it to show up where aeromedical policy is actually being discussed.

About P4HR: Pilots for HIMS Reform is an independent advocacy organization seeking transparent, evidence-based, safety-focused reform of FAA HIMS medical certification and monitoring practices. P4HR is not affiliated with the FAA or the official HIMS Program.

Source note: PMHC’s description of itself and its public advocacy record are linked above so readers can review the organization’s own materials directly. P4HR’s description of its Denver participation is based on its attendance and contemporaneous seminar coverage.