FAA On User Fees: "The piston thing is not going to happen." Divide And Conquer?

Don't be fooled by the Divide And Conquer strategy of the pro ATC
privatization crowed. How long do you think piston aircraft will
remain exempt? Is there going to be a non-negotiable guarantee, that
once ATC is privatized, piston aircraft will REMAIN exempt from user
fees? I have heard no mention of such a guarantee.

It is definitely what is not mentioned by the FAA that is most
troubling. Funding this privatized NextGen ATC user fee system will
require both the NextGen and current ATC systems to be funded
simultaneously for years (decades?) until the existing ATC system is
deactivated. That's bad enough, but the privatization proponents are
demanding that the current Congressional oversight of FAA spending be
removed, so they'll have a blank check to fill their bank accounts!

Don't be fooled. Privatized ATC is a big corporate aircraft
manufacturer and airline boondoggle, make no mistake.

Currently airliners are lined-up nightly for over a thousand miles
nose-to-tail (within separation standards) all the way from Oklahoma
on their way to KLAX. How many more airliners can the NAS truly
accommodate? It is setting this limit, that should be the focus of
this discussion.



Read all about the FAA's double-speak:

FAA MYTHBUSTING -- SHOULD GA WORRY ABOUT USER FEES?
(http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#195009)
Would the FAA's proposed new funding structure force general aviation
to pay more than its fair share of the FAA's costs? According to the
FAA, that's a "myth." At an "Ask The FAA" session at the Sun 'n Fun
Fly-In in Lakeland, Fla., on Friday, the FAA answered questions about
user fees and distributed a "fact sheet" that explains the effects of
its proposed financing changes on general aviation. The "facts,"
according to the FAA, are that GA currently drives about 16 percent of
the expense of the air traffic system, but pays only 3 percent of the
cost. The proposed changes would raise that percentage to 11 percent,
with only 1 percent coming from piston-aircraft users. It's also a
myth, says the FAA, that the airlines drive the cost of the
infrastructure, while GA is only a marginal user. The FAA says it has
taken those factors into account in its cost analyses. Will the
proposed tax increases "ruin" GA in the U.S.? No, says the FAA. The
increased cost would work out to about $500 per year for most piston
fliers, according to the fact sheet.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#195009

USER FEE COMPROMISE IN THE WORKS
(http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#195007)
Capitol Hill pundits are predicting the compromise on general aviation
user fees that will be sent to Congress will spare the piston crowd
any increases, but sock business aviation with charges for their use
of the airspace. (Hear what Cessna chairman, CEO and president Jack
Pelton has to say about aviation user fees
(/other/JackPelton_UserFees_2007-04-20.mp3). [3.3MB mp3]) A story in
The Hill earlier this week quoted unnamed sources as presenting this
scenario. "The piston thing is not going to happen," the source told
The Hill. "I do think there's significant traction on the whole issue
of corporate aircraft." The story also quotes an internal Air
Transport Association memo as conceding that the statistics it has
widely used to support the airlines' position on user fees are
somewhat skewed. The ATA, the strongest proponent of user fees, has
publicly claimed that U.S. airlines pay 95 percent of non-general-fund
contributions to the FAA's trust fund through ticket taxes, but The
Hill says the internal memo admits that the airline portion is more
like 74 percent, with cargo companies and foreign airlines picking up
the difference. Meanwhile, there's a furor north of the border as Nav
Canada has singled out very light jets for inclusion in its second
tier (more than 6,600 pounds mtow) of charges.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#195007