Infrastructure Assistance A Possible Source

Word from a top trade group official is the U.S. aviation and aerospace industries plan on asking Congress for a portion of the $50 billion in infrastructure assistance funding. The funding was announced by President Barack Obama September 6th in Milwaukee, WI at Laborfest, an annual event held every Labor Day, according to the Milwaukee Area Labor Council.

Reuters reports that Aerospace Industries Association president and CEO Marion Blakey told the Aerospace and Defense Summit that her organization has talked with other industry groups regarding potential financing streams for new cockpit navigation equipment required for air traffic modernization according to Reuters. "The President has opened the door," Blakey told Reuters, adding that it was up to airlines and other industry interests to work with Congress to see what amount of money would be viable.

Obama is proposing infrastructure financing as part of a new plan to jump-start the U.S. economy and create jobs. "Over the next six years, we are going to rebuild 150,000 miles of our roads," Obama told a primarily union audience on Labor Day in Milwaukee, WI. "We're going to lay and maintain 4,000 miles of our railways ... enough to stretch coast to coast. We're going to restore 150 miles of runways. And we're going to advance a next-generation air-traffic control system to reduce travel time and delays for American travelers."

While it's not really clear what the program specifics are, or what kind of financing may be proposed, many think the NextGen program, as it is being dubbed, carries a little more weight than in previous "stimulus" programs. Blakey also stated the aviation industry, which includes commercial and business jet manufacturers, airlines and suppliers, has not yet settled on a figure for assistance.

Marion Blakey

Replacing the aging radar-based air traffic network with a systems relying on satellites would also require air carriers to outfit their aircraft with additional sophisticated cockpit displays, ground equipment and other technology and the cost could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, say industry experts.

The airlines assert efficient air traffic control is in the national interest and therefore the government should cover basic costs. A federal trust fund currently pays for maintaining systems run by the FAA and is funded by fees and taxes currently paid by the airlines. Airlines contribute passenger fees, fuel taxes and other money to a federal trust fund that pays for maintaining air traffic services run by the FAA.

FMI: www.whitehouse.gov