Business Aviation Supporters Nationwide Express Opposition to Privatized ATC Funded By User Fees

Feb. 15, 2016

Acting on a Feb. 8 “Call to Action” by NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen, numerous business aviation groups around the country are asking their members to contact lawmakers about opposing a plan to privatize ATC and fund it with user fees, which is being proposed as part of the FAA reauthorization bill (HR 4441). Read the full Call to Action.

“The swift arrival of comments opposing user-fee ATC should make it clear to Congress that this proposal is not in the best interest of the United States,” said Bolen. “And the diverse sources of these comments should emphasize that opposition to this proposal extends well beyond business aviation.” Read about Bolen’s testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on HR 4441.

The New Mexico Municipal League and the Teterboro (NJ) Users Group are just two examples of organizations that urged their members to act upon NBAA’s call to action. Joining them were other members of the general aviation community, such as the Eastern Region Helicopter Council.

Local and regional aviation groups recommended their members act immediately. Among them were the Florida Aviation Business Association, Massachusetts Business Aviation Association, Oklahoma Business Aviation Association, Southern California Aviation Association, Nevada Business Aviation Association and the Colorado Business Aviation Association.

“FABA is joining in the industry Call to Action from NBAA in response to last week’s introduction of House Bill H.R. 4441 that calls for ATC privatization funded by user fees. Time is short to act on this issue!,” the Florida Business Aviation Association said in an email to its members. “Please take this time to use NBAA’s Contact Congress online tool to voice your opposition to these initiatives. It takes only a few minutes to do this, and there’s no limit to how many times you generate a letter to your elected officials. We also ask that you encourage others within your network to do the same.”

In their email alerts, the groups often linked to NBAA podcasts and web pages on the subject of FAA reauthorization. Groups also suggested their members use NBAA’s online Contact Congress tool to send personalized emails and tweets to their federal representatives. View NBAA’s Contact Congress tool.

Opposition to H.R. 4441 even came from outside the U.S. with Rudy Toering, president and CEO of the Canadian Business Aviation Association, saying, “It would be difficult for anyone to assert that adopting the Canadian [ATC] model would be in the best interests of the United States.”