NATA President James K. Coyne last week expressed to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials his strong concerns that the federal government's continuing efforts to reassure the American public of their security is doing irreparable harm to the nation's general aviation industry. Coyne's comments to TSA officials came during a regularly scheduled meeting June 4 involving NATA and other organizations representing different segments of the general aviation industry.

"Time and time again, we see general aviation bearing the brunt of the federal government's public statements about specific actions it is taking in the war on terrorism." Coyne said after the meeting. "It is imperative that policy makers in the administration understand that they are doing great harm to this industry when they highlight meaningless restrictions imposed on general aviation in the name of national security."

TSA officials in the meeting responded that the fears expressed by Coyne and others were very real. "You have every right" to be concerned about the damage the public's perception of these restrictions is doing to the general aviation industry, responded one official.

Continuing to publicize either new restrictions on general aviation or air defense exercises involving single-engine airplanes - as the Department of Defense did last week - is "leading to public animosity" toward the industry Coyne said during the meeting. "There is no need to frighten the American public about small airplanes," noting that much has been done since September 2001 to improve general aviation security.

"Public perception is everything," Coyne said after the meeting. "In the current environment, everything the federal government does in the security arena is highly publicized. When the federal government publicizes the things it is doing to further secure general aviation without publicizing its actions to secure rental trucks or recreational boats, it leaves the public thinking that small airplanes are a threat while other activities are not.

"I think the history of terrorist attacks in the U.S. and abroad demonstrates that general aviation is not the threat many in the federal government would have the public believe," Coyne concluded. "Yet, that's not the message being sent by the government. That message needs to change."

FMI: www.nata-online.org