Battle Against State Aviation Department Cuts

Take a letter.

The EAA wants all aviators in Illinois to contact their lawmakers in hopes of forestalling a planned 47-percent reduction in manpower at the Division Of Aeronautics. "We are asking you to contact Governor Blagojevich, IL DOT Secretary Timothy Martin and your local state representatives immediately to protest proposed funding reductions in the IL Department of Transportation FY 2005 Capital Budget," according to the alert. "Only through significant grass roots support will this devasting reduction in state funding be prevented. Do not wait for someone else, do your part for general aviation, act now."

On March 23, 2004, Governor Blagojevich submitted his Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 Department of Transportation Capital Budget to the state House and Senate for consideration. The proposed budget includes a 47% reduction in personnel for the state Division of Aeronautics. Currently, the division has a staffing level of 74, which includes 32 persons in the Flight Department and 42 persons in the Aeronautics Department. The proposed FY 2005 budget would reduce the staffing in the Aeronautics Department from 42 to 7 and would retain the Flight Department manpower staffing level at 32 persons.

"We encourage each of you to contact your state government officials regarding this issue," says the EAA alert.

The EAA says, under the proposed budget cuts, the following aviation safety programs are a few of the programs at risk of being elminated:

• Airport Hazard (tall towers) Zoning program
• Airport Safety Inspection program; the Airport Improvement/Grant Assistance (AIP) programs
• CFI and Pilot Safety & Education Seminars
• CFI Refresher Seminars; the new Airport Security programs
• Airport Minimum Standards Development programs
• Airport Design & Construction Specification Assistance programs

One of the primary missions of the IL DOT Division of Aeronautics is to reduce the overall general aviation accidents and the fatal general aviation accident levels through their ongoing airport, airman and mechanic continuing education safety programs. The proposed 47% reduction in staffing may have a severe detrimental impact on those rates.

With the current aviation safety programs in place, the Division of Aeronautics has been instrumental in reducing the number of fatal accidents in the state from 9 in 2001 to 7 in 2003, even though the total number of general aviation accidents remained the same -- 45 in 2001 and 46 in 2003. "Without any of the key aviation safety programs and/or the staffing to successfully oversee them, both the number of fatal general aviation accidents and the overall number of accidents may increase," says the alert.

FMI: www.dot.state.il.us/aero/index.html