Coalition Of Aviation Groups Send Urgent Letter To Lawmakers

The National Business Aviation Association joined with the Modern Skies Coalition in an urgent letter to leaders in Congress calling for a compromise to avert a looking shutdown of the federal government that would adversely impact the aviation industry, an essential sector of the American economy.

The shutdown is set to go into effect at midnight on Wednesday, October 1.

In the letter sent to House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-4-LA) and Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-8-NY), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the aviation stakeholders, unions, and trade groups said in part:

“Government shutdowns harm the U.S. economy and degrade the redundancies and margins of safety that our National Airspace System (NAS) is built upon.

“Earlier this year, our community established the Modern Skies Coalition to wholeheartedly endorse Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy’s plans to ‘supercharge’ air traffic controller (ATC) hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and modernize the air traffic control system. A government shutdown at this stage would jeopardize the important progress that we all have made on these efforts thus far.”

In addition, many FAA employees would be furloughed and the hiring and training of air traffic controllers would be suspended, along with system upgrades and maintenance of ATC equipment and infrastructure would be impacted.

The letter copntinued, “Furthermore, shutdowns are both costly and harmful to our economy. The aviation industry in the U.S. contributes more than 5% to the gross domestic product, accounting for $1.37 trillion in 2023, while also helping to drive more than 10 million American jobs. Government shutdowns severely hinder this economic activity.

“Congress must work quickly to avoid another harmful shutdown. The FAA, its dedicated frontline workforce, our aviation community, our economy and the American public cannot afford a disruption, regardless of how long it lasts.”

FMI:  nbaa.org/