Same Old... Political Scapegoating And User Fees Dominate '06

By nearly accounts, 2006 will go down as a banner year for general aviation. Sales of GA planes remain healthy, with a varied selection of capable aircraft. You likely won't find many new plane owners complaining they couldn't find just what they were looking for. (Whether it was available at the price they were looking for, though, is a different matter.)

Even in the face of ever-climbing fuel prices, buyers don't seem to be put off too much by sticker shock, if GAMA's year-to-date numbers for 2006 are an indication. People are buying, planes have little chance to collect dust on dealer lots... manufacturers are happy.

Not all is well, though. Several issues that could tank -- I'll say it again, TANK -- the latest GA boom are just over the horizon. Most visible is the impending FAA funding battle... but there are very real concerns also about attracting new pilots to the fold, and insuring they are properly trained. As the baby boomer generation has aged, so has the pilot community... and we're not bringing in new bodies anywhere quickly enough. Yet.

The issue of pilot safety also looms large. The GA community was hit this year with several high-profile accidents... and now more than ever, the "general" media is paying close attention to any and all incidents and mishaps. All one needs to do is set up a news alert for "plane crash"... your inbox will be flooded with reports. All day. Every day.

There is also the question of new technologies. The dawning of the 21st century brought with it a plethora of new and innovative products for the general aviation pilot. Glass cockpits, GPS, TAWS, TCAS, ballistic parachutes... the list goes on. Perhaps it is to be expected that 2006 saw relatively little true innovation in the GA segment, after such a flood of new technology.

If there's one thing history shows us, though, it's that if the GA market doesn't innovate... it WILL stagnate, and sales will plummet as a result.

Over the next several days, Aero-News will consider the key areas that impacted general aviation in 2006. We will also examine how GA is working to bring new pilots into the fold... and whether those efforts are having an impact.

Politics

The sad truth is, despite the best efforts of aviation's "letter groups" very little appears to have actually changed or improved for general aviation on the political front in 2006. The Washington DC ADIZ is still there, of course... and TFRs continue to roam the land unabetted.

But even more disturbingly, GA is still an all-too-easy target for unscrupulous politicians looking to garner quick, cheap support from their constituents. After all... what's easier for a politician than to broach a quick "us versus them" argument, telling voters how a certain group is threatening their safety?

Surprisingly, for the first nine months of 2006 it was looking to be something of an off-year for the Grand Marshal of this issue, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Hizzoner's attention may have been occupied elsewhere, on issues such as (unsuccessfully) fighting lawsuits stemming from the Meigs debacle, and forcing through an expansion at O'Hare. But Daley couldn't pass up commenting on the implications of the fatal October crash of a small plane into a New York highrise.

"They should not jeopardize, through intentionally or by accident, a single- or two-engine plane flying over our city," Daley exploded during a news conference after the accident in New York. "Remember: a single- or two-engine plane can kill as many people as possible if they want to."

Even more disturbingly -- but hardly surprisingly -- two New York lawmakers eclipsed even Daley's dark shadow on aviation, as they each rallied to paint general aviation as a threat to all civilians. Pilots across the nation -- and the world -- were angered by the empty 'terror threat' rhetoric and blatant scapegoating that spewed from Senator Charles Schumer and (the rather alliteratively-named) Congressman Anthony Weiner following the October crash of a small plane into a skyscraper that claimed the lives of the two pilots onboard.

"I do think that every flight should have to fly a flight plan, every plane should be identified, every plane should not be allowed in willy-nilly," Schumer (right) said in the aftermath of the crash that claimed the lives of the two people onboard the plane (and, it should be noted, no one else.) Weiner compared the East River flight corridor to the "Wild West."

Fortunately for pilots everywhere, leaders of aviation's 'letter groups' quickly responded. Representatives from the EAA, AOPA, NBAA, and others took to the airwaves at every opportunity to remind politicians, and the general public, that small planes such as the Cirrus SR20 piloted by New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and flight instructor Tyler Stanger pose almost no -- repeat zero, nada, none -- threat whatsoever.

"There may be calls for tightened security after this sad event, but such demands are emotional reactions without the benefit of facts," said EAA President Tom Poberezny.

The attacks on GA in the aftermath of the Lidle crash even led AOPA President Phil Boyer to lose his cool (in a rather classy way) and fire off a letter to AOPA members, stating comments made by Daley and others had sent him "over the edge."

"Other politicians (with the spectacular and notable exception of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg) and self-appointed "experts" are jumping on the tragic accident -- repeat, accident -- in New York to sound off again about the "danger" of light aircraft, and how they must be regulated, restricted, banned," said Boyer.

The AOPA prez went on to note that, if one followed those lawmakers' twisted logic, other potential threat items should be banned as well... such as moving vans, thick clothing, and cell phones.

Sadly, as the general media continues to report breathlessly on every small plane that lands gear up at the local airport (reports that are often inaccurate -- and would be laughably so, if only the stakes weren't so high), crashes involving small aircraft will likely remain a political hot button for a long time to come. 

The User Fee Fight: Battle Won, But War Looming

Make no mistake about it: as contentious as 2006 proved to be over the issue of new funding methods for the Federal Aviation Administration... 2007 will likely show us new levels of FAA doublespeak, and outright untruths propagated by the airlines.

Here are the facts: About a month from now, the FAA will put forth its proposal for a new funding mechanism for the next four years. If the airlines have a say in the matter (judging from some interesting comments from both sides, as well as some curious cross-industry job hirings, they certainly seem to have the FAA's ear), one and maybe more of the ideas in that proposal will revolve around charging general aviation pilots user fees for certain services.

Here is another fact: the current funding system works, and would appear to be capable of working well for the next several years. If this current system is not working for the agency, some -- including no less of an authority than the DOT's Inspector General -- postulate the FAA has only its own bureaucracy and mismanagement of existing funds to blame. 

Despite appearances by FAA Administrator Marion Blakey before pro-GA audiences at Oshkosh and AOPA Expo (appearances ANN has applauded before, and will continue to do so)... so far the FAA has done a shockingly poor job of making their case for a need for more cash. Most of the agency's arguments revolve around the much-bandied NextGen National Airspace System -- much of which still exists only on paper, and in the minds of FAA planners.

GA supporters appeared to win a key victory in August, when Congressmen John L. Mica and Robin Hayes told ANN that, contrary to previous indications, Administrator Blakey had "very decidedly gotten the message... User fees will kill General Aviation."

That was good news... but just over one month later, Blakey was once again stumping that the agency needed "a stable revenue stream. The changing face of aviation brings with it the need to modernize and we can't do that without fundamental reforms of the current financing system."

Mount up, folks... for all the skirmishes of 2006, the real battle over user fees remains on the horizon. And we can already see the dust clouds...

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