"Implicit in the ATA proposal is the acknowledgment
that it is the number of people in the aircraft that contributes
significantly to air traffic control system costs, and it's those
people -- not the aircraft -- that benefit from ATC services. A
blip is not a blip."
Source: Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
President Phil Boyer. In what AOPA calls a "startling turnaround,"
the airlines have abandoned their demand for user fees, and their
"blip is a blip" contention that all aircraft impose the same costs
on the air traffic control system, during a hearing before a
subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee July 19.