Favor Use Of Airport and Airway Trust Fund During Government Closures

The National Business Aviation Association along with its fellow 60-plus aviation stakeholders in the Modern Skies Coalition issued the following statement supporting legislation that would prevent the FAA from being affected by future government shutdowns to ensure the continuation of normal FAA and aviation operations:

“As members of the Modern Skies Coalition, we urge Congress to ensure that our nation’s aviation system and those who rely upon it are never subjected to another government shutdown.

“Travelers, shippers and other users of the system pay nearly $24 billion in taxes and fees every year for aviation operations, including air traffic control services, safety and security and they deserve uninterrupted delivery of those services.

“Our Coalition supports legislation that preserves the safety and operational integrity of the aviation ecosystem by protecting federal aviation workers and infrastructure. This includes ensuring that air traffic controllers, technicians, safety inspectors and certification personnel, TSA agents and CBP officers are compensated without interruption during a shutdown by drawing on monies already paid into the system by the users.

“We strongly support Chairman Moran’s bill (and the House companion bills introduced by Representatives Cohen and Bean) to shield the FAA from funding lapses by allowing the agency to draw from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund during a shutdown. We also strongly support the bill introduced by Chairman Graves and Ranking Member Larsen, which would draw on monies paid by aviation users to continue critical FAA functions.

“There is no reason aviation should be subjected to shutdowns that result from Washington’s inability to come to consensus on funding bills. Enough is enough. The time for this common sense and critical legislation is now.”

FMI:  nbaa.org/ , modernskies.com/