Media Coverage
User Fee Forum, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Aviation International News AINAlerts
July 27, 2006

Aviation Leaders United Against User Fees
NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen joined several aviation leaders on Tuesday at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., to show a united front against aviation user fees. Bolen and other leaders–EAA president Tom Poberezny, AOPA president Phil Boyer, GAMA president Pete Bunce, Cessna chairman and CEO Jack Pelton and Cirrus CEO Alan Klapmeier–participated in a forum focusing on the Air Transport Association’s proposal to shift $2 billion of the airlines’ costs onto the general aviation segment through the implementation of user fees. “Shift costs, control the system–that’s at the heart of the ATA’s proposal,” Bolen said. “The bottom line is that user fees are a tax, and if we’re not vigilant the ATA will tax users out of the system.” The user-fee issue has arisen because next year Congress will consider a multi-year package for FAA funding and programs. The ATA, which lobbies for the airlines, is seeking to use the reauthorization process as an opportunity to change the way the FAA is funded to one based on user fees. General aviation currently pays for its use of the aviation system through fuel taxes, which NBAA said are simple to pay, efficient to collect and serve as an “effective proxy” of GA’s use of the aviation system.

AvWeb
July 26, 2006

At OSH, GA Squares Off Against The Airlines
Alphabet groups and two industry leaders declared war against the Air Transport Association (ATA), which represents most U.S. Airlines, in the latest chapter in GA's effort to prevent the imposition of user fees on general aviation. EAA President Tom Poberezny spoke yesterday to a large audience at AirVenture, declared the airlines as the "enemy" and referred to the gathering of GA leaders at Tuesday's forum as "the opening salvo in the united front" against the FAA's apparent determination to impose fee-for-service charges for a variety of aviation services. Earlier this year the ATA issued a news release recommending that GA operators (defined by the FAA as anything but scheduled and military flights) pay for the actual services they use, rather than have their contribution collected from fuel taxes. However, the ATA also seemed to suggest that those flying piston aircraft be exempt from the charges. Regardless, general aviation groups have composed a unified position document, demonstrating solidarity and arguments for their cause.

Weaken Resistance, Divide and Conquer?
At the Tuesday forum, AOPA President Phil Boyer said his group, which represents more than 400,000 pilots, will be lending its considerable political clout to the effort, even though he's been told it's not his fight. He said that at debate between himself and Airline Transport Association President Jim May. May said piston-powered aircraft would be exempt from the user fees (which in speculated form hit a mark closer to business jets) and the vast majority of AOPA members unaffected. Boyer said he didn't take the bait and AOPA will continue to fight fees that, at least for now, shouldn't affect most pilots, but would be a firm step in an unwelcome direction. Boyer went through a long list of fees imposed on pilots in other countries and said it's sucking the life out of general aviation. Until recently, the fees have been prevalent in far-away places like Europe and New Zealand but a development in Canada has brought the issue closer to home. Until last week, GA operators in Canada have been required to pay a flat $72 annual fee to gain access to all services provided by the non-profit private aviation services provider, Nav Canada. Last week, the Canadian Transportation Agency upheld Nav Canada's request to impose daily user fees on GA aircraft landing at Canada's seven largest airports. Boyer said the Canadian experience proves that once user fee systems are in place, they eventually trickle down to general aviation.

The Fuel Tax, And What's "Really" Going On
Through the current system of fuel taxes, GA contributes about $500 million to the FAA. The ATA is looking for about $2 billion in relief with its proposal. If only turbine-powered, non-scheduled aircraft are left footing that bill, it means business jet owners could be faced with up to $100,000 in extra fees each year, according to the math done by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). "This is a very serious, very immediate threat," said NBAA President Ed Bolen. Cirrus Design CEO Alan Klapmeier said user fees would "be a disaster for GA) because, as pilots dropped out of the system because of cost, costs would escalate for those who remain. "This is a bad deal," he said. Cessna CEO Jack Pelton noted that GA could end up paying for the more than $1 billion in renovations required at major airports to accommodate the Airbus A380 and the 555 passengers it will carry.

All the speakers said the user fee proposal is a cynical attempt by the airlines to dump costs on general aviation and gain control of the airspace system. "All the airlines want to do is pay less and control more," said General Aviation Manufacturers Association President Pete Bunce. "User fees are bad business and airlines drive the cost of the system." He noted that the FAA hasn't saved any money since GA was virtually banned from Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. so the "blip is a blip" analogy that the ATA is promoting doesn't add up. The ATA contends that only two-thirds of air traffic is airline-related but 90 percent of the cost is assessed to airlines. The forum speakers agreed that if GA disappeared, the costs of handling the remaining airline traffic wouldn't change.

Aero News Network
July 26, 2006

Top News - User Fees On The Minds Of AirVenture Attendees

Five GA Leaders Discuss a Common Solution

Five big names in the general aviation (GA) community sat Tuesday at AirVenture for a panel discussion hosted by EAA President Paul Poberezny at the Sporty's pavilion. Jack Pelton, Chairman and CEO of Cessna, National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President Ed Bolen, Phil Boyer, President of the Aircraft Owner's and Pilot's Association (AOPA), Cirrus co-founder and CEO Alan Klapmeier, and Pete Bunce, President of the General Aviation Manufacturer's Association (GAMA) chose AirVenture as the forum to present a united front in the face of growing concerns over FAA user fees.

EAA's president started the discussion with a strong statement of solidarity that met with applause from the audience. "Let's start by defining GA; it's ultralights, LSA, piston singles, twins, turbines, business jets... we're all in this together."

Cessna's Pelton emphasized that "we must take this seriously," because the situation is different from past attempts at instituting user fees. He stated user fees are clearly meant to benefit the Airline Transport Association (ATA) and the airlines at the expense of GA... even going so far as to describe them as GA' "enemy."

What's their motivation? Says Pelton, "Since 9/11 busy people are tired of dealing with long lines at security and flight delays; the airlines are clearly losing business to GA." He questioned why GA should pay a higher percentage of the costs for the ATC system when clearly it's designed to support airline operations.

"The major costs for ATC revolve around the airline-developed hub and spoke system, which GA doesn't use," Pelton added.

"Shift cost, control the system... that's the heart of ATA's Smart Skies proposal," said NBAA's Bolen. He says the ATA believes, and would like everyone else to believe, that "a blip is a blip" and all aircraft in the system should be treated (and charged, of course) equally. This despite the fact that airliners are clearly treated differently in the ATC system. "User fees are a form of tax, and if we're not vigilant the ATA will tax [some] users out of the system."

Mr. Boyer described how Jim May of the ATA told him that non-turbine aircraft are "off the hook" and piston singles, the bulk of AOPA's membership won't pay anything. "This is simply an attempt to 'divide and conquer'; we must stand together," he said to more applause.

"Imagine hearing, 'Cessna 123, you're cleared to land 18L... as soon as I get your credit card number, expiration date and PIN,'" Boyer said. "This is not the way we want to do business with the FAA."

Boyer went on to describe how user fee programs have decimated GA in countries around the world. In one tragic case, a New Zealand GA pilot was lost for several weeks before search and rescue personnel were able to locate his body after he crashed in a remote region. The pilot's wife told officials her husband hadn't filed a flight plan, which might have saved his life, because he'd wanted to avoid the fees involved. Boyer urged everyone in the audience to let their political representatives know how they feel about user fees, "Congress shouldn't allow the airlines to control America's airspace system."