The biggest problem with aviation is ego. Everyone has an opinion & their opinion is the only one that's right! Everyone thinks that their area of aviation is the only one that really counts. Until you get rid of that & have people who support aviation rather than trying to run aviation & totally have their way, there will always be division. And when you have division its all over. Just a matter of time.
GA is also somewhat unwelcoming & I believe that ego is part of that as well. Every time I go out to a GA field & wander around I am watched suspiciously & never spoken to. All the pilot types are standing around in their groups talking & laughing & having a good time, but portraying exclusivity & superiority. I always feel like an outsider & even inferior at times. I therefore tend to never go near the aircraft & just watch quietly from a distance.
If I, as a current airline pilot, feel like that, what hope to those who are interested, but never actually flown or become involved in some way, feel like? Its all very well to say that people like us should just rock up, introduce ourselves & start chatting, but human nature doesn't work that way. If you don't actively invite people in, they will stand at the fence & watch & then eventually move on with their lives.