Tue, Feb 06, 2007
Says User Fees Accurately Link Services And Costs
The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the trade
organization of the leading US airlines, issued a statement Monday
in response to the Bush administration's FY 2008 budget
proposal.
In it, ATA says it's pleased the administration's budget
proposal recognizes "sound economics and basic fairness" require a
link between ATC services and what users pay for those services.
ATA President and CEO James C. May (below) claimed the
proposal would establish a cost-based funding method for the US
aviation system. ATA views the development as "a positive step
toward much-needed system modernization."
As ANN reported, the Bush
administration submitted its budget proposal yesterday which
included language requesting aviation user fees. While specifics of
the proposal have yet to be released, there is wide-spread believe
among the various groups representing general aviation the proposal
also includes a request to increase the tax on aviation
fuel -- the traditional and current method of tying
fees to use. Most GA groups argue that keeping the current system
of taxes -- at their current rates -- would more than
adequately fund the FAA, and avoid the inevitable large
bureaucracy necessary to collect user fees.
The ATA has argued the current fuel tax isn't fair and that
airlines pay a larger portion of the revenues currently collected
by the FAA. May said, "The administration's proposal also seems to
recognize that in the ATC system, a blip is a blip. Whether there
are three or 300 passengers on an aircraft, to an air traffic
controller, a blip is a blip on the radar screen. At the same time,
it would accommodate the desires of the business aviation community
to maintain a simple, per-gallon fuel tax, but one redesigned to
fairly reflect costs."
May concluded by saying ATA is pleased the administration isn't
satisfied with the status quo, adding, "A system where users pay
for the services they consume is essential to funding the ATC
improvements the nation so desperately needs. It will allow us to
make rapid progress to the digital, satellite and GPS technologies
required to handle 21st century demand."
ATA claims its members transport over 90 percent of all US
airline passenger and cargo traffic.
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