FAA Administrator Addresses User Fees for GenAv Community

On July 30th, 2009, Randy Babbitt took to the podium for the first time as the FAA Administrator, addressing EAA AirVenture attendees in the Honda Pavilion. 

With nearly 70,000 operations every day, and over 753 million people transported each year, Babbitt explained that the overall system is unquestionably the safesty, most efficient system in the world.  That system, however, requires an extraordinary budget and with the changing flight market, one question remains:  how does the FAA continue to fund the immense costs without degrading the effectiveness?

On May 22nd, 2009, the House passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009 (H.R.915) approving continued agency funding through 2012 using only excise taxes on fuel, airline tickets, and general fund contribution without the introduction of user fees.

As previously agreed upon, in exchange for not implementing user fees, the bill raised fuel taxes for both aviation gas and jet fuel.  The final bill, similar to one that stalled in legislation last year, will head to the Senate for approval.

Due to the recent developments, attendees invited Babbitt to comment on the prospect of general aviation user fees in the foreseeable future. 

Join Aero-TV as Babbitt tackles the question of user fees and explains to AirVenture attendees the challenges that the current FAA Administration face in the coming years.   

FMI: www.faa.gov/, www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/reauthorization/media/Questions_Answers.pdf, www.aopa.org/whatsnew/la-userfees.html, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews