Oberstar Tells Hearing "We're Going To Do Right By Aviation"

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association tells ANN the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ran into a wall of unyielding skepticism during a Thursday hearing before the House Aviation subcommittee on the agency’s funding proposal. AOPA President Phil Boyer told panel members they were right to be skeptical; that the FAA has manufactured the funding crisis they claim to be addressing with the proposal.

Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the full House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and an ex officio member of the subcommittee, told the FAA in his opening statement, "We're going to do right by aviation."

He said the subcommittee and full committee would listen to everyone affected by the proposal, including the FAA itself. After that, Oberstar (below) said, “I intend to give it a decent burial."

During his five-minute presentation to the panel, Boyer noted that all segments of the aviation industry recognize the need to modernize the air traffic control system.

"Let's take user fees off the table," he said, "and get on with the real issues at hand through a productive, meaningful discussion on how to strengthen the nation's airports and modernize air traffic control."

During Thursday's hearing, Dr. Gerald Dillingham of the Government Accountability Office and US Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel each told members of the Aviation subcommittee that the current funding system does generate enough money to fund the FAA's modernization efforts.

AOPA says this validates the group's own analysis last year of the FAA's next five-year revenue stream, which indicates that the FAA could spend some $20 billion on ATC modernization over a five year reauthorization time frame and still end up with an uncommitted balance in the Aviation Trust Fund of more than $7 billion.

Subcommittee members from both sides of the aisle expressed concerns about the proposed funding system and estimates that it will generate some $600 million less than they current system would, according to AOPA.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.aopa.org