Congress Agrees To Hear What FAA Won't
When the FAA refused to hold
face-to-face public meetings with pilots and businesses that will
be hurt by a proposed charity/sightseeing rule, AOPA vowed to make
sure pilots would be heard — by Congress if not by the FAA.
With the help of the chairman of a House Small Business
subcommittee, AOPA is making good on that pledge. Rep. Sam Graves
(R-MO), an AOPA member, wants to hear directly from pilots about
what the proposed rule will do to their business.
"We're talking about a rule that would force hundreds of small
businesses — the engine that drives the economy according to
the White House — to close their doors forever," said AOPA
President Phil Boyer. "In its rush to force this ill-conceived
proposal through, the FAA has tried to ignore the very people it's
driving out of business. Now, thanks to Congressman Graves,
Congress is listening, even if the FAA isn't."
The proposal would force small sightseeing operations to meet
the more stringent requirements of large air tour operators. Graves
was the first member of Congress to publicly add his voice to
AOPA's call for the FAA to hold public meetings on the notice of
proposed rule-making (NPRM).
The FAA ignored AOPA, Graves, and other members of Congress,
choosing to hold what it called a "virtual meeting" on the
proposal. It was in fact nothing more than an online chat room that
was open for two weeks, in which pilots whose businesses face
extinction could submit their comments and the FAA could reply at
its leisure — even after the time that the agency declared
the "discussion" over. The FAA received hundreds of submitted
comments. In addition, the agency has received more than 1,800
formal written comments through its online Docket Management
System. Pilots who did not take part in the "virtual meeting" may
still submit formal comments until April 19. The docket ID is
FAA-1998-4521.
The proposed charity/sightseeing rule would, by the FAA's own
estimate, drive hundreds of sightseeing operations that operate
under FAR Part 91 rules out of business. It would require the
businesses to operate as Part 135 air tour operators. It would also
impose expensive regulatory changes for existing Part 135 operators
with little or no increase in safety. And finally, it would more
than double the hours a pilot would be required to have, from 200
to 500, in order to fly passengers as part of a charity fund
raising effort.
The Small Business Administration has noted the concerns raised
by AOPA and others in the aviation industry and is exploring a
possible response to the FAA's proposal.