Sets Record Straight On How Industry Funds Aviation System

The New York Times put out a video editorial that included mischaracterizations and misstatements regarding how general and business aviation contribute to the funding of the nation’s aviation system. But the National Business Aviation Association corrected them in a letter to the news organization.

Ed Bolen, President and CEO Of NBAA, pointed out in his letter a simple reality: business aviation pays proportionately for its use of the system, just as the airlines do.

NYT’s argument is not credible because the aviation system’s costs are not being driven by small airplanes flying to community airports in suburban or outlying rural areas. The fact of the matter is that independent studies have shown the costs of running the system are really driven by airlines’ hub-and-spoke network that squeezes hundreds of flights through big airports at peak travel times every day of the year.

Bolen highlighted three key facts in his letter to the Times:

1. Business aviation pays its fair share for aviation system use: The NYT fails to mention that general aviation pays seven different taxes and fees for its use of the system. The most prominent among those is a pay-at-the-pump fuel tax.

2. Business aviation is an incremental user of the nation’s aviation system:  A study of the aviation system use conducted by the GAO, the Government Accountability Office, found that general aviation accounts for about 7% of system use. “Actually, quite small,” as the GAO put it. It should be obvious but… airline traffic requires complex infrastructure, large workforces both for the airports and air traffic controllers, and numerous other assets that drive the cost of operations.

3. Different kinds of flights impose different costs on the aviation system: Bolen compared the disparate use of the aviation system to a restaurant telling a party of five they all should pay the same as the person who ordered the most expensive meal.

One wonders whether it’s too much to ask of journalists, who are supposed to know better, to round up at least some basic facts before putting out opinions or complaints on topics they know little about.

Ed Bolen’s letter can be read in its entirety on the NBAA website.

FMI:  nbaa.org/