Urge Members To Sign A "Dear Colleague" Letter To Other Members Of Congress

A letter sent to members of the U.S. House Aviation Caucus by the heads of NBAA, GAMA, AOPA, EAA, HIA, and NATA urges them to sign a "Dear Colleague" letter written by Representative Sam Graves (R-MO), reminding all members of Congress of the importance of General Aviation, and GA airports.

The industry letter to the caucus, a direct counter to a misleading article which appeared in USA Today on September 17th, states: "the article dismisses the extraordinary value that America’s public-use airports and helicopters provide to small communities across the nation. The general aviation industry contributes $150 billion annually to the U.S. economy and accounts for 1.2 million jobs. General aviation aircraft fly 27 million flight hours each year with 67 percent of those flights being used for business purposes."

In his "Dear Colleague" letter to all members of the House, Representative Graves tells other members of congress: "As you know, the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) provides funding for the planning and development of “public-use” airports listed in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). Airports eligible for AIP funding must be included in the NPIAS which is determined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Such airports are considered to be significant to national air transportation (emphasis his)."

Graves goes on to say "In addition to vastly improving commercial and general aviation safety, AIP funding is used to increase capacity, enhance security, and address environmental concerns at all of our nation’s airports; large, medium, and small. Further, AIP funding cannot be used to subsidize operational costs.

Without a comprehensive network of reliever (medium) and general aviation (small) airports, the hundreds of thousands of pilots, families, doctors, farmers, and businesses which rely on this network would be forced to operate solely from commercial (large)airports. Further, this would leave many communities without a vital lifeline for disaster relief efforts (such as the recent  floods in the Midwest, fires out west, and hurricanes in the southeast) and other important emergency services which aviation access provides across America. To be clear, the end result would combine the operations of the smallest aircraft with the largest aircraft, ultimately decreasing safety, hampering disaster and emergency response capabilities, reducing capacity, and increasing congestion for all travelers."

C-SPAN's congressional glossary defines a "Dear Colleague" letter as "a mass-produced letter sent by one member to all fellow members. "Dear Colleagues" usually describe a new bill and ask for cosponsors or ask for a member's vote on an issue." Politico reports that the House Aviation Caucus was formed in April of this year, and has about 50 members.

FMI: www.house.gov