Nelson/Sununu Amendment Would Remove User Fees From Senate
FAA Reauthorization
NBAA is applauding an
amendment introduced by Senators Bill Nelson (pictured right --
D-FL) and John Sununu (pictured below -- R-NH) that would strike
proposed language calling for a per-flight user fee as part of a
Senate "reauthorization" (or funding) bill for the FAA.
"NBAA thanks Senators Nelson and Sununu for recognizing that
funding the FAA and modernizing the nation's aviation system are
critical, and that they can be accomplished without resorting to a
regressive and administratively burdensome user fee, which would be
very harmful to the small businesses and rural communities that
rely on general aviation," said NBAA President and CEO Ed
Bolen.
"The general aviation community is deeply grateful to these two
senators for co-sponsoring an amendment to take the user fee out of
the Senate's FAA funding bill."
The Nelson/Sununu amendment, introduced today, proposes to
strike the per-flight user fee included in S.1300, introduced on
May 3. NBAA has been unified with other general aviation groups in
opposing the user fee for a number of reasons.
The proposal introduces user fee funding. Bill S.1300
establishes a new $25 per-flight user fee for turbine operations.
The per-flight user fee is very regressive, applying equally to a
jumbo jetliner flying out of John F. Kennedy International Airport
with 300 people aboard and a turboprop aircraft flying in
controlled airspace from a small town with five people aboard. In
addition, payment of the fee is likely to be a significant
administrative burden for many general aviation operators.
The International Air Transport Association has said that it
costs international airlines $85 to $125 just to process a foreign
user fee.
That processing cost is
likely to be even higher for non-airline companies, since they are
primarily small and mid-size companies not set up to handle charges
like these. Thus, the $25 per-flight fee represents a huge hidden
cost to operators that dramatically exceeds the amount of the fee
itself.
The legislation necessitates a collection bureaucracy. The
proposal would require a large and expensive bureaucracy of billing
agents, collection agents, auditors, dispute arbitrators and
others.
The user fee proposed in S.1300 is unnecessary. According to
press reports regarding the overall funding plan, the fuel tax for
turbine-powered general aviation will increase by 125 percent,
generating approximately $400 million per year. That amount is
roughly equal to the entire amount of the modernization fund.
Moreover, the Congressional Budget Office, General Accountability
Office and the Department of Transportation's Inspector General
have said that the current funding structure will provide the
additional revenues necessary to build the Next Generation Air
Traffic System.
"The amendment introduced today by Senators Nelson and Sununu is
great news for businesses and towns across the country," Bolen
continued.
"NBAA and other general organizations look forward to working
with these two senators, and the other supporters of their
amendment, to ensure its passage."