ALPA, APA Urge Congress To Act As Soon As Possible
In separate venues, the leaders of the Allied Pilots Association
(APA) and the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) urged
Congress to quickly pass a long-term FAA re-authorization bill. The
agency has been operating on a series of continuing resolutions
since 2007, and has not seen a funding increase since that
time.
During his keynote speech at the Dahlman Rose &
Company’s Fourth Annual Global Transportation Conference in
New York Wednesday, APA President Captain Dave Bates emphasized the
need for a “coherent, comprehensive national transportation
policy”. During his remarks, Bates urged Congress to approve
a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill “as an essential
component of a national transportation policy.”
“An FAA reauthorization bill would provide our industry
with a greater degree of certainty and predictability, and would
represent a commitment to investing in the infrastructure essential
to preparing the industry for a more efficient future,” Bates
said.
Bates also urged policymakers to reconsider what he
characterized as the “tax burden” on the airline
industry. “Right now air travel is taxed more heavily than
alcohol and tobacco, which make no sense,” he said.
“Aren't ‘sin’ taxes designed as disincentives to
modify consumer behavior? The last time I checked, the contract of
carriage between airlines and passengers didn't include any
warnings from the Surgeon General.”
ALPA president Capt. Lee Moak sounded similar themes following a
news conference held today by ALPA at Reagan National Airport in
Washington, D.C. Moak said passage of an FAA reauthorization bill
was necessary to maintain the nation’s high level of aviation
safety and end the risk to thousands of aviation employees’
jobs if the current extension is allowed to expire on September
16.
“It is time to get serious and put the safety of aviation
in the United States ahead of partisan politics,” Moak said.
“We are in critical need of a real bill that will provide the
necessary funding to enhance the future safety and efficiency of
our aviation system.”
In a news release, Moak said that, in failing to pass a
long-term reauthorization, Congress put on hold safety projects and
research programs that will help protect all who depend on safe air
transportation. Vital initiatives including research into volcanic
ash hazards, wake turbulence, alternative fuels, and windshear
warning systems and efforts to make flying in icing conditions and
operating aircraft on busy runways safer have come to a halt.
Moreover, the lack of stable, long-term FAA funding has stalled
critical work to modernize and upgrade the current air traffic
control system to increase capacity and enhance efficiency. As a
result, the United States may not be well positioned to meet future
air transportation demand, and our country risks falling behind
Europe and Asia as those regions continue to move ahead. He says
the U.S. airline industry may find itself at an economic
disadvantage in the global air transport arena. “The Air Line
Pilots Association urges Congress to get on track and act now to
pass a long-term, multi-year FAA reauthorization bill,”
concluded Capt. Moak. “The jobs of thousands of hard-working
Americans, the safety of every passenger on every airplane, and the
future of the U.S. airline industry depend on it.”