NBAA Fights To Keep Public Aware Of Facts | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.22.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.16.24

Airborne-FlightTraining-04.17.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers-04.18.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.19.24

Join Us At 0900ET, Friday, 4/10, for the LIVE Morning Brief.
Watch It LIVE at
www.airborne-live.net

Thu, Jan 18, 2007

NBAA Fights To Keep Public Aware Of Facts

Ed Bolen Responds To User Fee Article

A recent article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram detailing commercial airline industry arguments to "revamp funding" for the FAA rose hackles among the general aviation (GA) community.

In the article, Air Transport Association (ATA) spokeswoman Sharon Pinkerton says the airlines pay 94 percent of revenues going into the aviation trust fund while only using 68 percent of the system. She adds GA isn't covering its share of the system's cost, especially in light of what she called "an explosive growth in GA" which is "taking up significant resources."

The author also spoke with Ron Ricks, a senior vice president with Southwest Airlines. Ricks was careful to focus the public's attention on the "jet set" so as not to offend "the typical private pilot with a small, single-engine aircraft." Instead, Ricks says the FAA should go after the deep pockets of "movie stars or the huge companies that have fleets of private jets."

Using an argument that is always sure to get the public's attention, Ricks claimed revamping the FAA's funding could lead to lower fares... or at least reduce the need to raise them.

Those comments rankled Ed Bolen, president of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), enough so that he fired off a short missive to address some of the comments made by Pinkerton and Ricks.

Bolen says the airlines are seeking a "sweetheart deal" that would cut their taxes while increasing fees for smaller aircraft operators. He says the general aviation industry represents the lifeblood of small businesses and small and rural communities all across America.

According to Bolen, "In justifying their Robin-Hood-in-reverse plea, the airlines revert to the time-worn mantra that consumers somehow will benefit by giving the big airlines a windfall once again. But if history is any guide, your readers shouldn't count on ever seeing more change in their pockets. Twice in the past decade, the taxes lapsed, and according to a 2004 General Accounting Office report, 'carriers generally raised base airfares.'"

Bolen went on to explain the ever increasing demand on the nation's air traffic control resources is a direct result of the airlines' "feverish" desire to hold on to an antiquated hub-and-spoke system of major airports. He says putting so many aircraft in such close proximity increases complexity and costs, while GA aircraft spreading out across the smaller regional and municipal airports relieves congestion and reduces controller workload.

Bolen summed up by saying, "Instead of trying to impose our tax obligations on others, we in the general aviation community want to focus on modernizing the aviation system for all Americans. We hope the airlines will join us in a dialogue that will truly modernize our air traffic control system, improve safety in the skies and improve the efficiency of the industry."

FMI: www.nbaa.org

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.24.24): Runway Lead-in Light System

Runway Lead-in Light System Runway Lead-in Light System Consists of one or more series of flashing lights installed at or near ground level that provides positive visual guidance a>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.24.24)

Aero Linx: Aviation Without Borders Aviation Without Borders uses its aviation expertise, contacts and partnerships to enable support for children and their families – at hom>[...]

Aero-FAQ: Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories -- ITBOA BNITBOB

Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories ITBOA BNITBOB ... what does that mean? It's not gibberish, it's a lengthy acronym for "In The Business Of Aviation ... But Not In The Busine>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Best Seat in The House -- 'Inside' The AeroShell Aerobatic Team

From 2010 (YouTube Version): Yeah.... This IS A Really Cool Job When ANN's Nathan Cremisino took over the lead of our Aero-TV teams, he knew he was in for some extra work and a lot>[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 04.18.24: CarbonCub UL, Fisher, Affordable Flyer Expo

Also: Junkers A50 Heritage, Montaer Grows, Dynon-Advance Flight Systems, Vans' Latest Officially, the Carbon Cub UL and Rotax 916 iS is now in its 'market survey development phase'>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC