Category Archives: aviation fees

ATC PRIVATIZATION THREAT TURNED ASIDE BY UNIFIED GRASSROOTS EFFORT

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ATC PRIVATIZATION THREAT TURNED ASIDE BY UNIFIED GRASSROOTS EFFORT

ATC Privatization plan dropped from House bill

EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — (February 28, 2018) — ATC privatization has been removed from an FAA reauthorization bill in the House of Representatives, scoring a victory for general aviation against a powerful, well-financed lobby that sought to give control of the national air traffic system to the country’s largest airlines.

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania) announced Tuesday evening that he is removing ATC privatization from H.R. 2997 and moving toward an FAA reauthorization bill that can pass both houses in Congress. Shuster, who is retiring after this year’s election, had attempted to garner enough votes to bring the privatization plan to the full House on several occasions over the past year.

“This is a tribute to all of you in general aviation who took the time to make yourself heard,” said EAA CEO/Chairman Jack J. Pelton. “Thanks to the unified fight by the GA community, this bill was not going to pass with ATC privatization as part of it. We can now move ahead with what we have maintained all along – modernization, not privatization. We can fund the FAA long-term and let the agency continue with its already progressing modernization efforts.

“I want to thank every one of the grassroots aviators who took time to call, write, and visit their congressional representatives, and express the far-reaching negative impacts that ATC privatization would have on the world’s busiest, most complex, and safest air traffic system.”

EAA was among the groups who warned of the privatization threat, a coalition that grew to include more than 200 aviation associations, plus consumer advocates, mayors from throughout the country, and even some conservative groups. The government’s own nonpartisan review agencies also panned the ATC privatization concept, noting it would add nearly $100 billion to the federal deficit, slow modernization of the air traffic system, and threaten national security.

“This was, as we’ve said all along, a bad solution to a nonexistent problem,” Pelton said. “Now let us join together to do the real work on behalf of aviation. We seek congressional passage of a bill that will maintain equal access to skies and eliminates the threat of user fees, aviation event fees, and other burdens that inhibit the future of general aviation.”

About EAA
EAA embodies The Spirit of Aviation through the world’s most engaged community of aviation enthusiasts. EAA’s 200,000 members and 1,000 local chapters enjoy the fun and camaraderie of sharing their passion for flying, building and restoring recreational aircraft. For more information on EAA and its programs, call 800-JOIN-EAA (800-564-6322) or go to www.eaa.org. For continual news updates, connect with www.twitter.com/EAA.

EAA JOINS OTHER GA GROUPS OPPOSED TO WHITE HOUSE ATC PRIVATIZATION PLAN

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EAA JOINS OTHER GA GROUPS OPPOSED TO WHITE HOUSE ATC PRIVATIZATION PLAN
User fees a main funding pillar of plan that is ‘solution in search of a problem’
EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — (June 5, 2017) — The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) today joined other general aviation groups in opposing the measures outlined by the White House for reform of the nation’s air traffic control system, telling the administration that dismantling the current system will devastate GA while not accomplishing the desired goals of efficiency and technological improvements.
A letter to President Trump opposing the “Principles for Reforming the U.S. Air Traffic Control System” was signed by EAA and 15 other general aviation organizations. The letter states the groups’ “very real and long-standing concerns, which include but are not limited to user fees. These concerns are based on our operating experiences in these foreign systems and impact they have had on general aviation.”
The White House principles statement supports removing air traffic operations from Federal Aviation Administration control and giving them to a new, non-profit entity that would be exempt from congressional oversight. In addition, the principles statement advocates for ending fuel excise taxes and creates a system that would make it self-sufficient through the collection of user fees to cover both the costs of operation and recapitalization expenses. The statement also specifically bars review or relief by Congress or the courts regarding any user fees that might be imposed by the ATC corporation. EAA has long been opposed to user fees for general aviation.
“The White House principles make a gross misrepresentation that the air traffic control system is broken, but the facts don’t support the claim,” said Jack J. Pelton, EAA CEO/Chairman. “This proposal is a solution in search of a problem. EAA supports modernization of the American airspace system, and progress is happening with the input of all the system’s stakeholders. This new plan would do nothing to solve any current technology or efficiency issues, while undermining the world’s most extensive general aviation system and disrupting the world’s largest and safest air traffic control system. It is a bad idea, and EAA will continue to state that to those in aviation, Congress, and the public.”
The GA group letter notes that the U.S. air traffic control system is the best in the world, moving more aircraft, more safely and efficiently, than any other country. Working with Congress, aviation stakeholders have been able to ensure that the ATC system operates for the public benefit, providing access for all stakeholders to airports, heliports and airspace, and encouraging competition and innovation. The letter also asks for ample opportunity for all stakeholders and citizens to carefully review, analyze and debate any proposed legislation changing the governance and funding for air traffic control.
Many of the White House principles are based on the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act that was shelved by the full House of Representatives and never taken up in the Senate last year. In April, EAA board member Joe Brown testified to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that privatizing air traffic control services was “deeply troubling” and would not benefit the public.
About EAA

EAA embodies the spirit of aviation through the world’s most engaged community of aviation enthusiasts. EAA’s 200,000 members and 1,000 local chapters enjoy the fun and camaraderie of sharing their passion for flying, building and restoring recreational aircraft. For more information on EAA and its programs, call 800-JOIN-EAA (800-564-6322) or go to www.eaa.org. For continual news updates, connect with www.twitter.com/EAA. 

User Fees In New Zealand: $1 Per Touch-And-Go And Rising

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 I hope our government doesn’t get any ideas from this. Reprinted form Avweb.

A trip around the patch at a controlled airport in New Zealand will soon carry a $1 NZD charge under a user fee schedule announced by the Airways Corporation of New Zealand, the “state-owned enterprise” that runs the country’s airspace system. By 2015, however, that same touch and go will cost $3.55 NZD as will transiting controlled airspace and something called a “vicinity landing” that is not defined in the Airways announcement of the fees. Fees for airliners will increase an overall 15.7 percent over the next three years.

The new fee schedule was finalized after six months of consultation with stakeholders and the airlines appeared to make their case especially well. “As a consequence of the high quality of customer submissions, we have revised Airways’ price increase from the 23 percent proposed in February to 15.7 percent over the three years of the pricing period,” the company said in its release. GA, however, is losing a discount system that presumably benefited big users of the system.

.http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/2514-full.html#208722