EAA and NATA On The Coming War Over User Fees
The head of the Air
Transport Association, as expected, has repeated the call for
aviation user fees to bolster FAA's budget, a move that would
offload millions of dollars of fees paid by the airlines onto
general aviation users.
ATA President James May made his comments on Friday at the
National Aeronautic Association in Washington. In his speech, May
repeated the airlines' stand that business aviation and the
emerging very light jet market are not paying their fair share of
fees to operate the air traffic management system. Revenues
generated by the airline ticket tax have dropped by about
20-percent because of market-driven low fares. As a result...
revenue pouring into the trust fund continues to decline.
May's comments come on the heels of a speech by Transportation
Secretary Norman Mineta to the Aero-Club in Washington, where he
strongly hinted that user fees may soon become a fact of life. He
said the nation's airspace must have a sound, reliable revenue
stream -- something he said it doesn't have today. He said the
Airport Trust fund can't continue to rely on passenger ticket
taxes... but stopped short of saying what comes next. Still...
general aviation advocates say there's little doubt the FAA will
push for user fees -- probably within the coming year.
Doug MacNair is vice president for government affairs at the
Experimental Aircraft Association. We also hear from NATA
President Jim Coyne, in Part One of a Two-Part Interview.
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ANN Daily Touch-And-Go: 02.02.06 (ANN's
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ANN Daily Aero-Briefing:
02.02.06 (ANN's Long-Form Daily News
Program)
ANN Special Feature: The Coming War Over User Fees
02.02.06 (ANN's Feature News Program, with
EAA's Doug MacNair and NATA's Jim Coyne on the Coming War Over User
Fees.)
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