NBAA, NATA, GAMA Welcome 'Consensus-Driven' Approach

GA and business aviation interests lining up behind the FAA reauthorization bill introduced Thursday in the U.S. Senate while continuing to oppose the House bill that privatizes Air Traffic Control.

Senate Bill S. 1405, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2017 was introduced late Thursday by Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) and other committee leaders. In addition to targeting support toward implementation of a Next Generation ("NextGen") aviation system, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen noted the bill addresses several other priorities identified by that and other organizations, including provisions for streamlining the certification process for aviation technologies, enhancing aviation safety and integrating unmanned aircraft systems into the National Airspace System.

“This bipartisan legislation is the right bill at the right time, helping strengthen and provide stability for the nation’s aviation system, so that it remains the world’s best five, 10 and 25 years from now,” Bolen (pictured) said. “It takes into account the perspectives of all stakeholders, bringing specific, consensus-based solutions to challenges. On behalf of our more than 11,000 member companies, I thank Sens. Thune, Nelson and other Commerce Committee leaders for moving forward with this legislation.”

Also notable is the Senate bill’s lack of controversial language to privatize ATC oversight. NBAA has long had significant concerns with the notion of privatizing ATC, which would turn control over the ATC system – a natural monopoly that currently serves the public’s interest, and is overseen by the public’s elected representatives in Congress – to a new entity governed by private interests.

NATA president Martin Hiller also commented on the bipartisan nature of the Senate bill, which he said is one that "all aviation stakeholders should support. The Thune/Nelson proposal builds upon prior work to produce legislation making the FAA a more efficient and effective agency. The Committee's inclusion of NATA recommendations related to regulatory consistency will, for example, provide the aviation business community with the certainty it needs to continue to invest in jobs and equipment, particularly in rural America.

The Thune/Nelson bill is in the best bipartisan traditions of the United States Senate and we look forward to working with the Committee leadership toward its swift approval by the full Committee and entire Senate.”

GAMA is particularly interested in the Senate bill's focus on certification reform. “We applaud the Senate and thank Commerce Committee Chairman Thune, Ranking Member Nelson, Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Blunt and Ranking Member Cantwell for including provisions addressing the broader certification and regulatory changes needed to improve safety, provide more consistency in regulatory interpretation, and keep the U.S. aviation industry competitive in the global economy,” said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce.

The reforms could be implemented quickly to address market and regulatory challenges the industry faces, resulting in a more efficient use of industry and FAA resources, and ensuring general aviation manufacturers can create more jobs and get their products to market quicker. Twenty-seven members of the Senate, led by Senators Blunt, Cantwell, Moran (R-KS), Klobuchar (D-MN), Gardner (R-CO), and Peters (D-MI), recently wrote Chairman Thune and Ranking Member Nelson urging inclusion of these significant reforms in the Senate FAA reauthorization bill.

“We appreciate their strong support in making this a reality, and we also appreciate the broad support for certification reform in the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Bunce. “We thank the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s bipartisan leadership for inclusion of the certification reform title in the bill Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) introduced yesterday.”

The House and Senate FAA reauthorization bills show the strong agreement that exists in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle for these much-needed and well-crafted reforms. GAMA hopes the Senate proceeds quickly to a vote on the legislation and that Congress passes these important reforms, which have already been held up too long by discussions about air traffic control privatization, including the proposal for a risky transition to a new, non-government entity for which only untested assertions about rewards or results can be made.

“There is no guarantee this new entity could run the safest, busiest, most technically advanced and most complex airspace in the world, while simultaneously increasing the pace and impact of modernization, accommodating new civil entrants such as commercial space and unmanned and autonomous flying vehicles, while assuring the American people that this proposed new entity will serve the public interest,” said Bunce.

(Source: News releases. Images from file)

FMI: www.nbaa.org, www.nata.aero, www.gama.aero