Ga User Fees In America And Faa Funding

[mars01]

I know this should be in the OClub, but I feel this is such an important topic that everyone must understand what is at stake and knowing HTC et-al are aviators I hope they will leave this topic here to get the most exposure.


If you dont know already the Bush administration, the Airlines and FAA are trying to kill General Aviation for the common man by instituting user fees to pay for our nations Airway services.  This will not only kill the dream of flight for the common population it will make it less safe for those that do continue to fly.

User fees have been instituted in Europe and Canada and have all but killed general aviation and pushed everyone out of the skies except for the rich and the airlines.

Faced with an instrument approach below minimums, how would you react to the notion that a last-minute approach to a nearby airport with better weather would cost you $1,000? Such harried decision-making and its negative effect on safety are a way of life for European general aviation pilots. Bring along your calculator and fly with AOPA Pilot Editor-at-Large Thomas A. Horne on an IFR flight across Europe in a Piper Twin Comanche as he deals with just such a situation. You'll be appalled at the flight's price tag when you tally air traffic control services from the preflight weather briefing to the landing. "European pilots pay more, receive less, and can face higher risks," Horne writes after the flight in "Euro-Fees Fears. " Watch this intriguing first installment of a four-part video report to experience first-hand the chilling effects of user fees on costs and safety.

See what is costs to make a trip in Europe, watch this short flight and film:

http://flash.aopa.org/pilot_media_viewer/media/0704userfees/files/video1.html

If you ever dreamed of flying, get involved and help put a stop to the madness and greed which will take the dream of flight away from you and your children.

[Yippee38]

I've read estimates that this will raise fuel taxes for general aviation by $.70 per gallon!!!

[mars01]

They are not estimates, Bush's proposal was to institute user fees and add a $.70 a gallon tax to  avgas which is already $4.00 to $5.00 a gallon and is only going to go up.

GA's biggest threat makes landfall
User fees and tax hikes in president's budget

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2007/070205funding.html

'A cynical attempt to shift costs'
FAA financing bill a first step toward privatized ATC system

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2007/070214funding.html

Do you want to pay nearly a fourfold increase in avgas tax?
AOPA members tell it as it is to Congress

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2007/070228letters.html

FAA funding: Airlines win and GA loses

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2007/070305funding.html

Some senators want aviation to pay more

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2007/070308hearing.html

[Bodhi]

It is a bunch of bullchit.

The airways are congested in major hubs not because of GA, but because the airlines and to a lesser extent, corporate aviation have flooded them in their own money grubbing, government subsidized money bleeding fiasco they call business.

If this passes, Mars is 100% correct, it will kill the dream that is aviation for all but the ultra rich and result in more accidents just so the general public can protect airline profits.

[KayBayRay]

Please take this to a Politically Oriented Web Site.

I dont think this is appropriate subject matter for this particular forum.

Just my opinion and you know... everybody has one

Later,
KayBay

[Yippee38]

BTW, this is not Bush's proposal.  This is the airlines' proposal.  Bush supports it, but he didn't initiate it.

[mars01]

President Bush released his $2.9 trillion spending plan in four massive volumes. The overarching philosophy is to increase military spending while squeezing the rest of the government. Unfortunately, the proposal would radically alter the funding mechanism for the world's largest, safest, and most successful air traffic control system. If that were not enough, the budget would slash airport funding by $1 billion.

Sounds like a Bush proposal to me.    Semantics anyway, he is naive enough to support it.

[Yippee38]

Yeah.  Sure it does.  However, keep in mind that the airlines have been pushing for this for years, and very aggressively for more than a year.  Bush's proposed budget hasn't been around that long.

[bsdaddict]

http://forums.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=198523

[mars01]

Yippee, that is not the point so please leave it alone.  The idea here is to get the word out to those aviation minded people such that are on this board and others like it.

This does not affect only pilots as it will inevitably kill most GA businesses when the GA pilot population shrinks.  

Also airshows and the like.  So please stop trying to derail the message.

[cav58d]

http://media.aopa.org/070321testimony.asx

Phil Boyer is the Man...So is AOPOA.

[mars01]

My point exactly BSAddict, this has been posted in OClub and got almost no exposure, that is why I hope HTC has the where with all to leave this here and at least help get the message out.

This affects everyone in this country that loves aviation but may not be pilots and may not know the fight that is brewing to keep our airspace free and usable by the common man.

[cav58d]

By the way, just to give an example of how the general public uses GA every day, whether they know it or not........

Crop dusting
Air medical (transferring a live liver to Grandma)
Bank Checks
Non-scheduled cargo (overnight shipping)
Law enforcement
News media
Part 91 business operations
Just-In-Time manufacturing operations
Aerial forest fire fighters

and the list goes on....Not to mention that more than 170 million px fly in GA aircraft each year....

[68Ripper]

Forgive me for being naive, but what exactly does GA stand for? I'm assuming General aviation?

[mars01]

Yep you got it ripper.

Exactly Cav