Emotions Run High At First Stop Of TSA's Road Show
The first of five public meetings to be held by the
Transportation Security Administration to listen to feedback on
the proposed Large Aircraft Security Program
was held last week in Atlanta.
A conference room at the Renaissance Concourse Hotel was packed
to standing room only with pilots, executives, and others from the
aviation community, unanimous in their strong feelings against the
extension of commercial airline security procedures and regulations
to general aviation.
Notable attendees included Craig Dotlo, the Northeast Regional
Representative of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
(AOPA), and Ed Bolen, President of the National Business Aviation
Association (NBAA).
TSA spokesman Jon Allen said such hearings will play an
important role in making a decision regarding the proposed rules.
"It's feedback that we value, and it will be considered as the
rule-making process continues," Allen told the Atlanta Journal
Constitution. And feedback he got - plenty of it.
"AOPA is concerned with the weight threshold that is used for
the basis of the regulations and provisions in the rule that
outsource security oversight to a third-party auditor," Dotlo said.
"AOPA does not support the NPRM as currently drafted and requests
that TSA reconsider the proposed rules, focusing particularly on
whether there are less costly and less intrusive ways of enhancing
general aviation security."
In addition to echoing Dotlo's misgivings, Bolen suggested the
creation of a rulemaking committee would provide mutual benefits.
"We believe that by working together, we can harden business
aviation against attack without destroying it in the process. We
deserve a dialog about how best to do this," Bolen said.
Ray Boyd, who owns a jet-leasing company in Athens, said, "Does
(the Transportation Security Administration) have their head in the
sand? The whole program needs to be scrapped. It's obvious TSA does
not understand general aviation." His sentiments were obviously
shared by many in attendance and earned him a standing ovation.
"The imposition of this proposed regulation will, in fact,
result in the terrorists' objective of crippling our free society
and profoundly altering our democratic way of life," pilot Clif
Port said, adding that the new regulations would cost his company
$100,000 a year.
Pat Epps, president of Epps Aviation at DeKalb-Peachtree
Airport, pointed out that having to check passenger names against a
list of terrorists was unnecessary, and said, "We know who our
passengers are. We're not letting strangers on our airplanes."
Epps also called TSA's 260-page proposal "a huge waste of
time and effort. Your time could be better spent somewhere
else."
Bolen Gives Congress a Rare Thumbs-Up
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