The NBAA has unveiled the NBAA Online Advocacy Center, a new Internet resource that provides information about, and resources for opposing, the big airlines' user fee funding proposal for the FAA.
 
Funding and programs for the FAA expire in October of this year. In February, the FAA submitted its "reauthorization," or funding proposal to the United States Congress. The proposal, which the airlines are pushing, replaces the ultra-efficient fuel-tax funding mechanism for the FAA with a schedule of new user fees and steep tax hikes for general aviation. The plan also strips Congress of most of its role in aviation system funding decisions.
 
"When people in the general aviation community hear about the user fees and a tripling of taxes included in the airlines' FAA scheme, their first question is 'What can be done to oppose it?'" Bolen said.

"NBAA's new Online Advocacy Center will literally put information and ways to take action against the FAA bill at people's fingertips."
 
Among the resources available at NBAA's Online Advocacy Center are:

• A link to Contact Congress, NBAA's user-friendly, web-based advocacy tool for sending e-mail messages to members of Congress to oppose the FAA funding plan.
• A sample e-mail message to invite others to use Contact Congress to oppose the FAA's plan.
• A link to obtain NBAA's Contact Congress web site banner advertisement for use on web sites throughout the industry. A number of NBAA Members have already added the banner ad to their own web sites.
• A tool providing Washington, DC office contact information for members of Congress.
• Sample points that can be used in letters to newspaper editors to oppose the FAA's proposal, and helpful hints for writing a letter to a local newspaper.
• Sample articles for company or organization newsletters, to help raise awareness of the FAA's user fee proposal, and urge opposition to it. A number of NBAA Members have included such articles in their company newsletters, and examples are available on the site.
• Talking points for people to use in explaining why Congress should not abandon a proven funding system for a new, untested funding scheme.
• Downloadable information, recent NBAA news and other resources for learning more about the FAA's proposal.

"I urge everyone in general aviation to visit NBAA's Online Advocacy Center to learn more and take action against user fees, in support of keeping our air transportation system the world's largest, safest and most efficient," Bolen (pictured, above right) concluded.

FMI: www.nbaa.org/advocacycenter