Wed, Aug 16, 2006
Could User Fee Proposals Be DOA?
A very short while ago,
ANN's Pete Combs had the chance to directly question two leading
lawmakers about the state of the American aviation industry. While
originally brought together to discuss aviation security
matters, ANN was also able to get some extremely interesting data
about the state of the User Fee fight from Congressman John L. Mica
of the Seventh Congressional District of Florida (as well as being
the head of the pivotal House Aviation Subcommittee) and
Congressman Robin Hayes (R) of the 8th Congressional District of
North Carolina. Hayes serves on the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee as well as the Aviation Subcommittee.
In the press conference at the Charlotte-Douglas Int'l Airport
in Charlotte, NC, both Hayes and Mica answered questions about the
state of aviation, and aviation security in particular. When ANN
questioned Rep. Hayes about the state of the User Fee proposal
floated by FAA over the last year, the answer was one that GA
parties will be pleased to hear.
The NC Congressman told
ANN that he knew why we have seen so little, lately, from the
FAA in regards to user fees, and told Combs that "Admin Blakey has
very decidedly gotten the message from Chairman Mica and me. User
fees will kill General Aviation."
Throughout the conference dedicated to security questions, Hayes
also noted that the airlines are spending millions of dollars day
to meet TSA security requirements on carry-on luggage... and
while this 'puts a further drain on government resources...
but that's no call to institute user fees.'
Hayes, a GA pilot, says he's not sure about the status of future
FAA Funding, but concluded that "user fees are not the way to go."
ANN will have more on this story later in the day. Audio from the
press conference will be presented on the next ANN Aero-Cast news
and feature programs.
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