Wed, Sep 15, 2004
Legislation Would Allow Waivers Around Major Sporting
Events
The EAA wants its members to support
a bill by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH) that would allow
waivers in restricted airspace around major sporting events for
air-show operations. Such a measure would prevent situations like
the one that curtailed much the Cleveland Air Show's Friday night
performance over Labor Day weekend.
Rep. Tubbs-Jones introduced the bill (HR 5028) that would allow
waivers for air shows operating in areas near professional stadiums
and other venues that are designated with temporary flight
restrictions, if security is not compromised. Her legislation was
authored as a result of the difficulties the Cleveland Air Show had
on Sept. 3, when organizers had to alter their annual night show
because the Cleveland Indians baseball team was playing a home game
near the Burke Lakefront Airport that evening. The flight
restrictions over the stadium prevented the full air show
performance from being held, with the aerial event losing up to 50
percent of its usual attendance that evening. FAA and
Transportation Security Administration officials were powerless to
grant a waiver for the Cleveland event due to the inflexibility of
the original sporting event TFR legislation.
"EAA has always maintained that the
TFR legislation was an ill-considered policy based on the economic
dominance of professional sports leagues rather than security,"
said Doug Macnair, EAA's vice president of government relations.
"That's why EAA and other aviation organizations stepped in to
assist the Cleveland air show organizers in any way possible. What
happened there showed how the inflexibility of this legislation
hurt a long-standing air show tradition in that city, while not
enhancing security one bit."
EAA has been in contact with Rep. Tubbs-Jones' office, offering
support for the measure and the backing of EAA's 170,000 members.
As always, EAA members are encouraged to participate in the process
to help bring change and improvement for recreational aviation. EAA
is also actively encouraging other aviation organizations to lend
their support to the bill.
"We hope EAA members contact their Congressional representatives
and urge them to co-sponsor and/or support this legislation,"
Macnair said. "It brings a little common sense to the issue of
flight restrictions around major sporting events, though it does
nothing to help aerial advertisers who have been unjustly wronged
and economically devastated by the original ill-conceived
legislation."
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