Website Creates Letter For Pilots To Send To Congress

The National Business Aviation Association says if you use a general aviation aircraft for business -- you are under attack.

Citing the Air Transport Association's recent proposal on funding the national airspace system -- a plan that would rely heavily on charges commonly known as "user fees" -- the NBAA is urging biz-av pilots to speak out against a plan that would force pilots to pay for using ATC services.

"Recent media quotes and other statements... demonstrate that the commercial airlines have unveiled a plan that will allow them to assume a dominant role in running the air traffic control system and imposing $2 billion in new user fees on our industry," the NBAA states.

"As absurd as the airline proposal sounds, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has not explicitly rejected it -- in fact, a major newswire has reported that the DOT will soon propose user fees for everyone in general aviation except “recreational pilots.”

NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen (right) has put out a call for help to the business aviation community, asking members to contact Congress and let them know how pilots feel about such a plan. To that end, NBAA has also created an online source to help pilots send such a letter.

Once pilots have filled out the form on NBAA's website (at the FMI link below) the software will automatically prepare an email pilots can then send to their Congressman and Senators in opposition to user fees.

"Help keep business aviation a viable form of transportation in the United States," Bolen says. "Use “Contact Congress” to make your voice heard and get others to do the same. By acting collectively, we can defeat the airline user fee proposal."

FMI: www.nbaa.org/userfees