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FAA Reauthorization News Archives March 2, 2009 - Work begins on FAA reauthorization February 17, 2009 - BizAv, Airline Groups Push FAA Funding Bill September 29, 2008 - OPA Claims Victory On User Fees ... For now. AOPA has announced that a Sept. 23 bill passed by the House of Representatives extends the current taxes on fuel and airline tickets until April 2009. That means, according to AOPA, that "we can declare victory in the battle against user fees" and won't face the threat again until, maybe, April Fools' Day. Read more. September 24, 2008 - Congress Passes Yet Another Extension For FAA Funding The Federal Aviation Administration will continue to operate, thanks to a short-term funding extension passed Tuesday by the US House of Representatives... but any hope for true reauthorization of the agency's agenda, and the money the FAA maintains it needs to implement it, will remain out of reach at least into early 2009. Read more. June 30, 2008 - AOPA: No User Fees 9 (For Now) Congress has extended the FAA's funding under current conditions, which means no new taxes or fess at least until Sept. 30, AOPA reported Friday. Read more. June 24, 2008 - General Aviation Groups Slam New Report Saying GA Doesn't Pay Its Fair Share Just when we expected the ongoing verbal conflagration over user fees to ebb a bit -- given that the FAA reauthorization debate is all-but dead for this year, victim to partisan posturing in the US Senate -- on Tuesday two Washington, DC-based think tanks decided to throw new fuel on the fire. Read more. June 4, 2004 - NATCA Tries To Reignite Debate On FAA Funding Bill It's been unusually quiet lately on the FAA reauthorization front. After what looked like an opportunity to finally get the Senate to act on reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, settle the user-fee debate for a few years, and get next-generation air traffic control underway, extraneous amendments and political tantrums derailed the debate on Senate Bill 1300, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled it from consideration. Now, as Congress's summer recess looms, The Politico reports lobbyists on all the issues involved have pulled back to take a breather -- all, that is, except the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Read more. May 22, 2008 - NBAA Combats Latest ATA Campaign Against Corporate Jets Don't think for a moment just because it appears likely a permanent solution to fund the FAA is now at least 15 months off, that the Air Transport Association is taking a break from spreading its rhetoric against general aviation and, in particular, corporate aircraft. Read more. May 6, 2008 - NBAA Urges Congress To Continue Efforts To Pass FAA Reauthorization On Tuesday, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) commended Congress for its work to date to fund the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and modernize the nation's aviation system... and urged the Senate to continue its work for passage of FAA reauthorization legislation. Read more. May 6, 2008 - Senate Vote Halts Progress On FAA Funding Bill What's the opposite of progress? If you answered "Congress," you're not far off the mark... as a Tuesday vote in the US Senate has all-but-guaranteed we won't see passage of an FAA reauthorization bill this year. Read more. May 2, 2008 - Congressional Paper Names Blakey, May Among Best Lobbyists It pays to know people in high places. Last week, Congressional watchdog newspaper The Hill recognized two heavy-hitters within the US aviation industry among its list of the 50 most influential lobbyists for business interests. Read more. May 2, 2008 - Senate To Vote Tuesday On Cloture For S.1300 Don't expect meaningful progress on the Senate's FAA funding bill until early next week. CNN reports Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has scheduled a May 6 procedural vote on the matter, effectively setting a deadline for lawmakers to stop quibbling over which amendments should be added to the bill. Read more. May 2, 2008 - AOPA, NBAA Reassert Need For Swift Action On FAA Modernization Even though further debate on the Senate's plan for FAA reauthorization is stalled temporarily, that doesn't mean everyone is standing still. At a news conference Thursday, the leaders of the AOPA and NBAA joined with Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) to appeal for the swift passage of S.1300, and thank the senators for their efforts. Read more. May 2, 2008 - Senate Stalls On Debate Of FAA Funding Bill Well, that didn't take very long. The Senate's bill to reauthorize funding for the FAA stalled in debate Wednesday, after lawmakers clashed on a proposal to more tightly regulate pension funding rules for airlines. Read more. May 1, 2008 - Senate's FAA Bill Faces White House Opposition The GA community has been cautiously celebrating this week over the removal of user fees in the final version of the Senate's FAA reauthorization bill -- but there's a ways to go before any bill becomes law, and the White House on Tuesday made clear that it's not ready to welcome this latest iteration. Read more. May 1, 2008 - OMB Threatens Trouble For FAA Reauthorization Bill As the aviation world counts down to the Senate vote on the FAA reauthorization bill, there's a renewed veto threat on the legislation from the White House. Read more. April 30, 2008 - S.1300 Makes Its Way Through Senate We're getting details now on the final form of the Senate's FAA reauthorization bill, which is expected to come to a full Senate vote by week's end. Read more. April 28, 2008 - AOPA Welcomes Senate Action To Move FAA Reauthorization Forward The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association welcomed the news of Senate action on FAA reauthorization, following months of inaction on the part of lawmakers. Read more. April 26, 2008 - User Fees Out of FAA Reauthorization Bill The Senate will likely vote on Monday or Tuesday on an FAA Reauthorization bill that does not contain user fees for general aviation. Read more. April 26, 2008 - Compromise Reached In Senate On FAA Funding On Friday, the Senate Finance and Commerce Committees reached agreement on a common bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration for the next four years... putting an end to seven months of bureaucratic stalling on the measure. Read more. April 21, 2008 - Reports: S.1300 May Go To Senate Floor This Week Fasten your seatbelts... the legislative gears appears to be slowly grinding into motion. Aero-News has received a number of reports that indicate movement in the FAA reauthorization fight, now stalled in the US Senate. Read more. April 12, 2008 - Decoys in the air space (NBAA and AOPA editorial) For all of the turn-of-the-millennium buzz about the power and efficiency of e-business, most companies still depend on real-life "bricks and mortar” facilities. Read more. March 6, 2008 - Coalition Urges Congress To Pass FAA Reauthorization In a coalition letter to the US Senate this week, 35 aviation organizations called for members to pass a comprehensive, long-term Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill this year and urged the Senate to make the legislation a priority. Read more. March 1, 2008 - NBAA's Bolen Reiterates GA's Support For ATC Modernization NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen reiterated Thursday the general aviation community's support for aviation system modernization, a topic of discussion at a Congressional hearing. Read more. February 28, 2008 - Is GA to blame for stalled Senate FAA funding bill? There will not be an FAA funding bill this year “based on the GA community’s inability to compromise,” said Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) during a Feb. 28 Senate Commerce Committee hearing.Read more. February 13, 2008 - GAMA Calls For Focus On ATC Modernization At Outlook Briefing During its Annual Industry Review and Market Outlook Briefing on Tuesday, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) identified several dynamic challenges that must be managed in order for the robust growth in general aviation to continue. Read more. February 11, 2008 - FAA Modernization At What Cost? The total cost of a NextGen system empowering pilots with satellite-based air traffic control information is expected by the FAA to cost up to $22 billion, but that figure may be very conservative. Read more. February 7, 2008 - Blakey Says FAA Budget Provides Needed Boost to NextGen Just because her office address has changed, doesn't mean former FAA Administrator Marion Blakey's views on funding the agency -- and the much-bandied "next generation" air traffic control system -- have been altered in the slightest. Read more. February 7, 2008 - FAA Nominee Sturgell To Face Senate Hearing This Week More than three months have gone by since President Bush nominated Bobby Sturgell to take over Marion Blakey's job as head of the FAA, but the Senate needs to confirm that choice, and so far they haven't taken action. Read more. February 6, 2008 - Letter Groups React To White House Budget Proposal On Monday, the Bush Administration released its proposed budget for fiscal year 2009... and it represents more of the same for general aviation, as the White House continues to push for deep cuts in programs vital to smaller airports, while continuing to show an apparent prejudice towards airlines. Read more. February 5, 2008 - Airline delays in 2007 were second worst ever Domestic airline delays in 2007 were the second worst on record, the Transportation Department said Tuesday. Read more. In a speech to the Aero Club of Washington this week, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters told a gathering of aviation industry leaders Congress needs to act, and act soon, on an FAA reauthorization bill. Read more. January 24, 2008 - Congress criticized in airline delays January 10, 2008 - OK-FAA reauthorization possible soon, OAC director says An Oklahoma aerospace industry advocate Thursday said a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill could be passed by April, but elections and other national priorities including the situations on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan add uncertainty to the prospects. Read more. January 12, 2008 - AOPA: Senator Believes 'User Fees Are Dead' From his lips, to a higher power's ears. Florida Senator Bill Nelson had a succinct message for the over 400 pilots attending a recent AOPA Pilot Town Meeting. In his opinion, "user fees are dead," Nelson told the audience in Fort Lauderdale, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Read more. December 6, 2007 - House Aviation Subcommittee Names New Member Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, has been named to succeed Sen. Trent Lott on the Senate Aviation Subcommittee. Read more. November 20, 2007 - AOPA's Boyer Warns The User Fee Issue Is 'Far From Resolved' Buried in President Bush's call last week for a set of sweeping measures aimed at combating airline flight delays was an all-too familiar appeal for higher taxes and fee on general aviation, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Read more. November 13, 2007 - NBAA: FAA Funding Extended Once Again Say... whatever happened to the FAA reauthorization debate? The National Business Aviation Association tells ANN the hot-button issue near the forefront of legislative debate just two months ago, is now stewing on the back burner. Read more. October 8, 2007 - AOPA 2007: User Fees, Flight Service Among Topics At General Session AOPA President Phil Boyer spent the lion's share of Saturday's general session on the status of the user fees for General Aviation debate. Read more. September 24, 2007 - Senate Finance Committee Rejects User Fees The Senate Finance Committee has approved the "American Infrastructure and Investment Act" as part of Congress's FAA reauthorization process. Read more. September 22, 2007 - Airlines lose votes to small-jet users U.S. airlines, lobbying Congress to reduce their tax load, lost a vote to the business-jet industry Friday for the second consecutive day. Read more. September 21, 2007 - NATCA Cheers House Approval Of FAA Reauthorization Bill The nation's air traffic controller workforce rejoiced at the passage of the House FAA Reauthorization bill, which -- if passed into law -- would provide a glimmer of hope for controllers working under an FAA-imposed contract for over a year. Read more. September 21, 2007 - Boyer Calls House FAA Reauthorization Bill 'Great Model' For Funding ATC As ANN reported, the House of Representatives passed H.R.2881, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007, on Thursday. The bill would fund the FAA through 2011, provide additional money for the agency's planned air traffic control modernization, and increase the funds for airport improvements... particularly small general aviation airports, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Read more. September 20, 2007 - Aero-News Alert: Congress Passes H.R. 2881 The US House of Representatives has passed its "FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007," a move commended by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). Read more. September 20, 2007 - White House Says It Will Veto H.R. 2881 Some potential bad news for H.R. 2881, the House plan to reauthorize funding for the Federal Aviation Administration. On Wednesday, the White House threatened to veto the measure should it come across the President's desk. Read more. September 20, 2007 - House Committee Rejects User Fees The House Ways and Means Committee passed an FAA reauthorization bill on Tuesday that has no user fees for general aviation. The legislation still must pass through the Rules Committee before heading to the House floor, but that could happen within a week. Read more. September 19, 2007 - NBAA Welcomes House Leaders' Continued Rejection Of User Fees The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) stated its support Tuesday for Congressional legislation to fund the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and modernize the nation's aviation system through excise taxes, rather than new taxes or untested user fees. Read more. September 18, 2007 - HAI Expects Major progress With House FAA Reauthorization Bill This Week The Helicopter Association International tells ANN that 'events are unfolding rapidly in Washington this week,' with the soon-to-expire FAA Reauthorization Bill moving quickly through the U.S. House of Representatives. Read more. September 17, 2007 - Former UT Senator Goes On Record Against User Fees The latest announced opponent of Senate Bill 1300, which would reauthorize the FAA and add user fees for general aviation, is former astronaut and Utah Senator Jake Garn. Read more. September 15, 2007 - AOPA's Boyer Likens FAA Funding Battle To 'Food Fight' Phil Boyer, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, recently said the common goal of modernizing the nation's air traffic control system has been sidetracked by the unnecessary "food fight" over FAA funding. Read more. September 13, 2007 - FAA's Blakey Puts Airlines On Notice It was a speech the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association called 'jaw-dropping.' On Tuesday, outgoing FAA Administrator Marion Blakey took the nation's airlines to task over this summer's record number of flight delays and cancellations... saying if the airline industry doesn't take meaningful measures to improve its performance, the government will step in and do it for them. Read more. August 30, 2007 - AOPA Says Airlines Remain in 'Concrete' Denial' The airlines just don't get it... or they chose not to, reports the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Read more. August 27, 2007 - Agent for Change: BRAC-style Panel Needed for 'NextGen' Last month we discussed a new Federal Aviation Administration plan, called "NextGen,” that would replace the current air traffic control system with one based on satellite navigation and control and digital, nonverbal communication. Read more. August 27, 2007 - FAA Hyping NextGen The PR campaign to gain support for the FAA’s airspace modernization program, known as NextGen, took to the air on Friday as members of the mainstream media got a demonstration of ADS-B on the agency’s test bed aircraft. Read more. August 23, 2007 - Alphabets Ask for Quick Follow To Blakey Exit With FAA Administrator Marion Blakey's term about to expire in just over two weeks, aviation leaders are urging President Bush to quickly appoint a new leader for the agency. Read more. August 14, 2007 - Is the ATA Right? Small Jets ARE Causing Big Delays at LaGuardia...But Those Planes Are Airliners, Not Bizjet The Wall Street Journal reports during the 5:00 pm arrivals rush into LaGuardia last Wednesday, over half of the 41 jets trying to land at LGA were regional aircraft. And five of those 21 planes weren't even RJs... but turboprop puddlejumpers. Read more. August 13, 2007 - AOPA Says DOT Study Proves GA Not To Blame For Delays Weather and the airlines' own scheduling practices continue to be the major causes of flight delays, and they won't be fixed with user fees or a modernized air traffic control system, according to AOPA President Phil Boyer.Read more. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association put the call out... and the pilot advocacy group says more than 3,000 of Delta Air Lines' best customers have responded, telling the airline's bigwigs why they are wrong. Read more. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines -- fresh off reporting the highest load factors in the carrier's history for July -- is the latest major carrier to appeal to its customers to support the airlines' plan to fund the development of the FAA's NextGen air traffic control system... by slapping general aviation with a greater burden to fund that system. Read more. Seven members of the House of Representatives attended a public meeting on Saturday, July 28 during AirVenture 2007 at Oshkosh to answer questions and discuss the next steps for the Aviation Reauthorization Bill. Read more. They're still at it. The Air Transport Association, the lobbying organization representing the major airlines, attempted Wednesday to repackage and reintroduce for the second time their latest tax cut scheme as the House Ways and Means Committee’s Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee considered FAA reauthorization. Read more. Members of the House Ways and Means Committee heard from several players in the aviation-taxes/user-fee debate in a hearing on Wednesday. Read more. July 23, 2007 - Are The Airlines Softening Their User Fee Stance? In what the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association calls a "startling turnaround," the airlines have abandoned their demand for user fees, and their "blip is a blip" contention that all aircraft impose the same costs on the air traffic control system, during a hearing before a subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee July 19. Read more. July 20, 2007 - NBAA Member Richard Shine Outlines Pitfalls of User Fees Before Senate Committee The user fee plans advocated by airlines and the FAA would be devastating to small and medium-sized companies nationwide, said Richard Shine, CEO of Manitoba Recycling, a 60-person, family-owned company in Lancaster, NY, in testimony Thursday before the Senate Aviation Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure. Read more July 20, 2007 - AOPA Tells Senators, 'Reject User Fees' AOPA is NOT letting up on User Fee proponents as the misinformation campaign waged by the airline lobby continues to confuse legislators and travelers alike. Read more. July 17, 2007 - Schumer Calls For Blakey's Resignation As FAA Administrator There aren't very many days left in her term as FAA Administrator... but one US senator believes Marion Blakey should be removed from her post immediately. Read more. July 16, 2007 - GA Boosters Back Airlines In FAA Reauthorization Talks Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W. Va., said he’s determined to ensure general aviation pays more to support the modernization of the air traffic control system. Read more. July 14, 2007 - Sens. Rockefeller, Lott Say GA Will Pay If S.1300 Fails Two US Senators openly threatened the general aviation community Thursday, stating if GA pilots refuse to accept a blanket user fee for filing an IFR flight plan... there will be consequences. Read more. July 13, 2007 - Alliance For Aviation Across America Appeals To Senate In User Fee Battle The House version is the one we want. That's the message the Alliance for Aviation Across America had for the Senate Finance Committee, following Thursday's hearing regarding reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. Read more. July 12, 2007 - No Consensus Yet on Aviation Taxes As FAA Deadline Nears The Senate Finance Committee Thursday began grappling with how to fund a transition to a new air traffic control system, though no consensus has yet emerged with less than three months left to act. Read more. July 12, 2007 - FAA's Blakey Announces Expansion Of OEP In Senate Presentation Editor's Note: Below is the complete text of a speech given by FAA Administrator Marion Blakey during Wednesday's "Senate JPDO" day. In her speech, Ms. Blakey announced an expansion of the agency's original Operational Evolution Plan -- now Partnership -- to include the FAA's proposed NextGen changes to the nation's air traffic control system. Read more. July 12, 2007 - AOPA Says 'Deceptive' ATA Release Blamed Wrong People For Airline Delays In the illusion trade, they call it misdirection -- a form of deception, where the attention of the audience is focused on one thing in order to distract attention from what is really happening. Read more. July 10, 2007 - Oklahoman Editorial: 'Dish network: FAA's 'Next Gen' is no flight of fancy' July 7, 2007 - Aviation Groups Rail Against Anti-GA Airline Magazine Editorials If you've found yourself absent-mindedly thumbing through the in-flight magazines onboard several major carriers recently, you've had the opportunity to enjoy some fine fiction, in addition to that five dollar snack box and half-can of Coke, according to aviation letter groups such as the National Business Aviation Association. Read more. June 29, 2007 - EAA Calls House FAA Funding Bill 'A Positive Step' Against User Fees Continuing the cautiously optimistic response by other aviation "letter groups" to Thursday's marked-up H.R. 2881, the House version of the FAA Reauthorization Proposal, the Experimental Aircraft Association called the House's bill "a positive step" against establishing a user fee-based funding structure. Read more. June 29, 2007 - Alliance For Aviation Across America Applauds House FAA Reauthorization Bill Editor's Note: Late Thursday evening, the Alliance for Aviation Across America released the following statement applauding the House of Representatives’ FAA Reauthorization bill, which rejects any new user fee taxes: "We applaud members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for introducing a FAA reauthorization bill that stands up for small businesses and towns around the country that rely on small aircraft by rejecting any new, harmful user fee tax. Read more. June 29, 2007 - House FAA Reauthorization Bill Faces Hurdles, Including Veto And you thought the battle over user fees was volatile before. With Thursday's passage of the House version of the FAA Reauthorization Bill by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, comes the potential for renewed confrontation between general aviation pilots, the FAA, and air traffic controllers. Read more. June 28, 2007 - AOPA Endorses House FAA Funding Bill If this is what we end up with, general aviation will win the user fee battle... but that's a BIG "if." The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association says release of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007 from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is a giant step forward... though the group cautions we're far from the end of a 12-step process. Read more. June 28, 2007 - GAMA Commends House Bill For FAA Funding Reauthorization Wednesday evening the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced its version of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) commends the House for this bipartisan legislation that significantly strengthens the effort to modernize the national air transportation system. Read more. June 28, 2007 - House Committee Adds Two Amendments To FAA Reauthorization Bill Bring on the amendments. On Thursday, the US House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee voted to include two amendments which have strong support in Congress... but may endanger the bill's chances of avoiding a presidential veto. Read more. June 28, 2007 - NBAA Lauds House Leaders' Rejection of Aviation User Fees The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) commended aviation policymakers in the House of Representatives Thursday, for introducing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding legislation the group says promotes transformation to the Next Generation Air Traffic System based on established aviation excise taxes rather than a user fee structure. Read more. June 25, 2007 - Controllers' Dispute Delays FAA Funding Bill The Washington Post says Democrats' attempts to turn back the clock on the FAA's relationship with its air traffic controllers are behind the delay in getting the controversial FAA reauthorization bill introduced in the House of Representatives. Read more. June 15, 2007 - FAA's Blakey Tells JPDO 'Tomorrow Is Today' For NextGen Editor's Note: Below is the full text of a speech given Wednesday before the Joint Planning and Development Office on Capitol Hill by FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. Read more. June 13-2007 - FAA Issues Draft Of Its 'Flight Plan' For The Next Four Years Stating "aviation is safer than ever" -- but "capacity must expand to meet demand, and we must be good environmental stewards" -- on Wednesday the FAA posted a draft of its "Flight Plan 2008-2012." Read more. June 12, 2007 - Oberstar Predicts FAA Bill This Week A bipartisan FAA reauthorization bill likely will be introduced in the House this week, followed by a markup next week, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, predicted Monday. Read more. June 11, 2007 - House plan for FAA won't have user fees Washington - Aviation user fees won't be part of a House plan for funding the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar said. Read more. June 7, 2007 - User Fee Talk Finds Its Way To Airliner Seatbacks The airlines have begun stuffing seatbacks with anti-general aviation propaganda... appropriately enough, right next to the sick bags. So far, editorials have appeared in two in-flight magazines, Northwest's NWA WorldTraveler and United Hemispheres, under the headline "Smart Skies" -- which not by coincidence is also the namesake of the airlines' political initiative. Read more. June 4, 2007 - AOPA Urges Members To Call Influential Senators After losing a vote at the Senate Commerce Committee, opponents of a Senate bill that would impose a $25-per-flight modernization "surcharge" aimed at business aircraft are hoping for better luck with the Senate's finance committee. Read more. June 2, 2007 - FAA funding debate: It's really about an airline tax break, Boyer tells AOPA Fly-In crowd May 31, 2007 - Airport Groups Want Cap On Passenger Facility Charge Lifted In letters this month to the Co-Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and members of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, 13 aviation associations urged Senate action to allow an increase in the capped Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) they contend will reduce passenger delays and inconvenience and provide airports with a "critical" funding source. Read more. May 31, 2007 - GAO Reaffirms Current Taxes Can Fund FAA's NextGen In a letter sent Tuesday to follow up on questions arising from a March 29 House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee hearing on NextGen, Government Accountability Office Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues Dr. Gerald Dillingham reiterated that "the current FAA funding structure can provide sufficient funding for NextGen—with some caveats." Read more. May 30, 2007 - Alliance, NBAA Denounce ATA's Anti-BizAv Television Ad This has to be one of the oddest news items to cross the ANN desk so far this year... if only it weren't true. The Alliance for Aviation Across America slammed the Air Transport Association Tuesday, for what the user fee opposition group says is a misleading advertisement that began running last week on television screens at airports around the country. Read more. May 29, 2007 - Alaskan Senator Secures Fee Exemption For Pilots In State One week after casting the tie-breaking vote in favor of legislation to tack a proposed $25 per flight surcharge on general aviation aircraft throughout the United States, Senator Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, was hard at work trying to get Alaskan pilots exempted from the charge, according to his staff. Read more. May 28, 2007 - Aviation User Fees The Hot Topic This Summer EAA is predicting that the final form of the FAA’s reauthorization bill will be hammered out in contentious conference committee meetings this summer because the House is contemplating a package that differs fundamentally from the direction the Senate appears to be leaning on the user-fee issue. Read more. May 24, 2007 - AOPA's Boyer debates the airlines It still comes down to user fees. AOPA President Phil Boyer and the airlines' representative, James May of the Air Transport Association (ATA), squared off for a debate on the FAA funding legislation. Read more. May 23 - 2007 - Will The User Fee Ride Smooth Out? As any general-aviation-industry alphabet-soup group will tell you, last week's narrow approval by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of legislation (S. 1300) to, in part, create a system of user fees to fund the FAA wasn't the final word on the subject. Numerous associations, including NBAA, AOPA, EAA and HAI, to abbreviate a few, have spent the intervening days licking their wounds and planning for the next go-around, which could come as early as this week. Read more. May 17, 2007 - AOPA Says 'Fight Has Just Begun' On User Fees The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association reports there was no doubt about the general aviation community's hatred of user fees in the minds of any member of the Senate Commerce Committee when it came time to vote Wednesday on an amendment that would have stripped the $25-per-flight air traffic control user fee from the Senate's FAA funding bill. Read more. May 17, 2007 - Senate Commerce Committee Splits On Aviation User Fee Vote May 16, 2007 - ATA 'Strongly Opposes' Amendment Striking User Fees From Senate Plan Not surprisingly, on Tuesday the Air Transport Association (ATA), the trade association for several US airlines, voiced its opposition to a proposal by Senators Bill Nelson and John Sununu to eliminate the $25 travel fee from the Rockefeller-Lott FAA reauthorization bill. Read more. May 16, 2007 - AOPA Calls Members To Arms -- And Phones -- To Support Senate Amendment It's an opportunity to kill user fees once and for all. That's how Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association President Phil Boyer summarizes the amendment proposed by Senators Bill Nelson and John Sununu Tuesday, that would gut a proposed $25 "per trip" charge for turbine aircraft in the Senate's FAA funding bill. Read more. May 16, 2007 - NBAA Applauds Amendment Striking User Fees From Senate Reauthorization Bill NBAA is applauding an amendment introduced by Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and John Sununu (R-NH) that would strike proposed language calling for a per-flight user fee as part of a Senate "reauthorization" (or funding) bill for the FAA. Read more. May 16, 2007 - Alliance for Aviation Across America Applauds Nelson-Sununu Amendment On Tuesday, the Alliance for Aviation Across America called upon the Senate Commerce Committee to adopt the Nelson-Sununu amendment, which would strike the “user fee” flat tax from S.1300, or the Senate Commerce Committee bill for FAA reauthorization. Read more. May 14, 2007 - Buffett Battles Bush as Corporate-Jet Owners Fight Tax Increase President George W. Bush is proposing to cut the amount passenger carriers such as American Airlines and Continental Airlines pay in federal taxes each year by $1.68 billion. Most of that obligation would be shifted to small-jet operators, including General Motors Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and NetJets Inc., the business-jet charter company owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The Bush plan has touched off a fierce battle in Congress that cuts across partisan lines. Read more. May 12, 2007 - AOPA Objects To Senate's Proposed Turbine Flight Fee Members of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association are opposed to the idea of a $25 per flight user fee for turbine-powered aircraft, AOPA President Phil Boyer told members of the Senate Commerce Committee in a May 10 letter. Read more. May 11, 2007 - FAA Puts Hat In Hand In Latest 'Fact Sheet' The FAA has published a fact sheet detailing the agency's efforts to modernize the nation's air traffic control system... while also taking the opportunity to plug its proposed funding reauthorization plan, now before Congress. Read more. May 10, 2007 - Congress Told FAA Lacks Road Map For NextGen The FAA says that the current national airspace system won't be able to handle the expected tripling of air traffic by 2025, and there's generally no disagreement among stakeholders about the need for ATC modernization. But it is how we get there that is the big problem. Read more. May 10, 2007 - GAMA Encourages Government, Industry To Work Together On NextGen While the issue of how to fund the FAA's proposed Next Generation Air Traffic System remains a contentious topic, there's little argument from all sectors of aviation on the need for such a "NextGen" system. Read more. May 7, 2007 - Alphabets Rap New FAA Bill A compromise bill on FAA budget reauthorization is meeting swift -- and predictable -- opposition from the aviation sector it hits hardest. The National Business Aviation Association has come out swinging against the bill proposed by Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Trent Lott, R-Miss., that would shift all of the burden of general aviation user fees to smaller turbine aircraft. Read more. May 6, 2007 - Barnstorming: The FAA's User-Fee Stance Is An Attack On Us All (Editorial) There was a time in the "good old days" when the FAA was not only supposed, but was mandated, to be a close ally, (even a proponent) to all of aviation. Congressional intervention and concerns about the FAA's objectivity destroyed all that in the wake of an airline crash and the freakish fallout that occurred, thereafter. To many in the world of aviation, this was a mistake. Read more. The Federal Aviation Administration has problems. Most everyone in aviation agrees with the diagnosis, but there is no consensus how to solve them. And the clock -- and FAA's tax funding mechanisms -- is running down and will expire Sept. 30. Read more. May 4, 2007 - Senate FAA bill is better for some facets of GA The Senate Commerce Committee has taken to heart much of what AOPA members have told Congress about FAA funding. Aviation subcommittee Chairman John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Ranking Member Trent Lott (R-Miss.) have introduced an FAA bill, Aviation Investment and Modernization Act of 2007, that responds to many members' concerns but misses the fundamental AOPA principle of "no user fees for any segment of aviation." Read more. May 4, 2007 - FAA Rebukes Group's Claims Against Funding Plan, Part Four As Aero-News reported, the overriding theme of the Alliance's argument against user fees is that such systems have wrecked havoc for private pilots everywhere they've been implemented before, including Canada and throughout Europe. That is a view also shared by such general aviation letter groups as AOPA, NBAA, and EAA. Read more. May 3, 2007 - NBAA Expresses Strong Opposition To Senate's FAA Funding Proposal No surprise here. On Thursday, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) announced its opposition to the Senate's take on FAA Funding Reauthorization... a piece of legislation that includes increased aviation user fees for corporate pilots. Read more. As Aero-News reported, the Alliance states the FAA's funding plan will strip Congress of its ultimate power to control appropriations for the agency. FAA Economist David Weingart confirms Congress would not be responsible for setting specific fees... but he adds Congress would still have significant power over how much of that money the FAA could use. Read more. May 2, 2007 - FAA Rebukes Group's Claims Against Funding Plan, Part Two In a telephone conversation with Aero-News last week, representatives with the Federal Aviation Administration rebuked many of the points presented by the Alliance for Aviation Across America, in that group's rebuttal to the FAA's policy document released April 23 on the subject of user fees. Over the next several days, ANN will present those arguments, and the FAA's contrasting position on each issue. Read more. May 1, 2007 - FAA Rebukes Group's Claims Against Funding Plan, Part One In a telephone conversation with Aero-News last week, representatives with the Federal Aviation Administration rebuked many of the points presented by the Alliance for Aviation Across America, in that group's rebuttal to the FAA's policy document released April 23 on the subject of user fees. Over the next several days, ANN will present those arguments, and the FAA's contrasting position on each issue. Read more. April 30, 2007 - Anti-User Fee Chorus Grows Down On The Farm The National Farmers' Union (NFU) has joined the juggernaut of opposition to the FAA's funding proposal, saying it's nothing more than a bailout of airlines on the backs of small-town America. Read more. April 28, 2007 - Aero-News Alert: FAA Wants Skyrocketing Costs In Pilot, Airplane Registrations That 'thud' you hear is the other shoe dropping in the FAA's proposed funding reauthorization scheme. According to an internal PowerPoint presentation obtained by Aero-News through a VERY reputable News-Spy -- and verified as accurate by sources familiar with the issue -- higher fuel taxes and charges to use terminal airspace may not be the most egregious aspects of the agency's airline-supported (and VERY airline-friendly) proposal. Read more. April 26, 2007 - NBAA Takes User-fee Fight Online The Internet can be a powerful force for organizing, and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) this week unveiled the NBAA Online Advocacy Center, an effort to harness that force in opposition to the FAA's user-fee funding proposal. Read more. April 25, 2007 - Setting the Record Straight on FAA’s Recent Claims This week, the FAA released a “fact sheet” aimed at curbing some of the backlash that the agency and the airlines have received since introducing their proposal for FAA reauthorization. However, this is just the latest round of rhetoric that has been put out by the FAA and the commercial airlines since the introduction of their proposal, which would purposefully transfer billions of dollars of the airlines’ tax burden onto businesses and communities that rely on small planes. Read more. April 25, 2007 - User-Fee Battle Heats Up; Congress Keeps Options Open Despite increasing rhetoric on both sides of the issue, there's still no clear winner in the ongoing battle engaging the FAA and the airline industry against general and business aviation to impose user fees. Meanwhile in Congress, indecision reigns, with the House unlikely to develop legislation to fully implement the FAA's legislative proposal but an even murkier picture forming in the Senate. Read more.
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