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User Fee Debate Overshadows FAA Reauthorization Bill

It is amazing how something so good can happen at the same time as something so dumb.  On Tuesday, President Obama signed into law the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 which provides four years and $63.4-billion in funding for the FAA.  This follows 23 short-term funding bills over the past five years.

All of the experts applauded this action as it provides a certain amount of stability for an organization that has been in limbo for half of a decade.  Most people overlook the fact that the lack of funding for the FAA has also meant a lack of funding for a lot of very important airport development projects.

The irony of the situation is that just the day before, on Monday, President Obama released a budget that included user fees of  $100 per flight as well as increasing the passenger security fee from as low as $2.50 to as high as $7.50 over the next 6 years.  This increase could cause very serious issues for an industry that is still struggling in a variety of ways.

It is amazing to me that you could do something so detrimental the day before doing something so valuable.

The first concern is obviously money.  Aviation companies, both commercial and business, are struggling to make ends meet in any way that they can.  Commercial airlines will not be affected quite as much since they will simply pass the fee on to the passengers which they won’t really notice either since the $100 per flight will spread out to less than a dollar for most flights.

The security fee will be worse, but again, airlines will pass it along to the passengers, and with the high price of tickets most people will simply write it off.  But I know that I for one am tired of paying more and more for plane tickets.

Bigger business aviation companies will also not feel the pinch nearly as much since $100 really isn’t that big of a deal when you are dropping tens of thousands of dollars on fuel for every trip.  The real pain will be felt by the little guys who have less of an impact on fuel purchases, but who are responsible for a much larger portion of the total flights.

These smaller jets routinely purchase only a few hundred dollars worth of fuel because that is all they need.  They also fight tooth and nail to not pay landing fees at FBO’s because even $50 more for each flight makes a huge difference to their bottom line.  Having worked at an FBO I have seen how hard these guys fight for every dollar, because they have to.

Now they are proposing that these users pay an additional $100 for each and every flight, if they fly in controlled airspace.  Talk about a gray area.  Even people who teach aviation have a tough time defining what exactly controlled airspace is.

Does that mean that every little single-engine prop is going to have to come up with an extra $100 for every flight when they are only spending $50 on fuel?  But this becomes a much bigger issue than just money.

If the choice is between paying $100 and simply flying VFR instead of IFR, then what choice are most of these little guys going to make?  A lot of them are flying short legs anyways, so how hard is it to just fly VFR?  The vast majority of passengers won’t even realize that their safety is at risk as opposed to being under the control of air traffic controllers.

They use the excuse that aviation needs to pay for its own security, which in principle I don’t have any problem with.  The problem that I have is that the government continues to impose new rules and regulations and then expecting users to just eat the costs.  In reality, how much safer are we now than we used to be?

My own personal feelings about TSA will have to wait for another day, but the point is that the government once again feels that throwing money at a problem will be a solution despite all of the evidence to the contrary.  Look at most government-funded programs and you will see that money is generally not the real issue.

So, while I am ecstatic that the FAA is now funded for a period that will allow some serious work to take place on NextGen ATC, and a bunch of other badly needed development, I hate to see that the government is asking for even more of a sacrifice from an industry that is already struggling.  Pretty much every sector is struggling, and they all need to make changes and pull their own weight, but the changes to these fees simply is not the answer.

February 16, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Airport Executives Seek to Expand Trusted Traveler Program Beyond Elite Fliers

February 14, 2012 Alexandria, VA — The American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) — the world’s largest airport organization, representing thousands of men and women across the country who manage and operate the nation’s airports — pledged its support today in working collaboratively with the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection to grow the PreCheck trusted traveler program to accommodate additional fliers as quickly as possible.

“Airport executives long have advocated for the adoption of a robust, nationwide trusted traveler program to better identify and scrutinize potential threats while improving passengers’ experiences at the airport,” AAAE President Chip Barclay said.  “The recent announcement by TSA that the agency intends to bring its PreCheck trusted traveler program on-line quickly at additional airports is welcome news, and airport executives are eager to play an active role in the successful deployment of the program at their facilities.

“Airport executives anticipate great success with the PreCheck program and recognize that the next challenge will be moving from a largely airline-centric program in operation at a handful of airports to one that is operational for large numbers of travelers at airport facilities across the country,” Barclay added.  “Airport operators are uniquely situated and qualified to play a key role in assisting TSA in efficiently and effectively growing participation in PreCheck or a similar trusted traveler program.”

Barclay noted that over the past decade, AAAE and individual airports have worked closely with TSA and the technology community to implement specific programs, including Registered Traveler (RT).  In roughly one year, the RT program enrolled more than 250,000 travelers at 24 airports, proving the security and efficiency benefits that adoption of these programs provides.

PreCheck in its current form is available only to certain elite travelers on specific airlines and participants in the CBP Global Entry program. Barclay said that airport executives would like to see the program expanded to accommodate as many additional travelers as possible in an airport-centric, community-based effort.  Barclay added that while airline-based programs and Global Entry are good avenues in enrolling qualified participants, additional efforts will be needed to accommodate a broader range of qualified travelers — a goal that airports, the traveling public, and the government share.

Additional views from AAAE were outlined in a letter sent today to TSA Administrator John Pistole and CBP Acting Commissioner David Aguilar, which can be viewed here.

“Airports are confident that in partnership with TSA they can help facilitate the deployment of a robust trusted/known traveler program that focuses on enhanced security above all else in addition to expediting the travel experience,”  Barclay said.  “We are eager to work with Administrator Pistole and his team to make the promises of PreCheck a reality for a broad range of qualified travelers at airports across the country.”

ABOUT AAAE

Founded in 1928, AAAE (www.aaae.org) is the world’s largest professional organization representing the men and women who work at public-use commercial and general aviation airports. AAAE’s 5,000-plus members represent some 850 airports and hundreds of companies and organizations that support the airport industry. Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., AAAE serves its membership through results-oriented representation in Washington, D.C., and delivers a wide range of industry services and professional development opportunities, including training, conferences, and a highly respected accreditation program.

February 14, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Ramp Fees are an Important Part of Running a Successful FBO

Sen. Phil Leventis (D)of the great state of South Carolina recently submitted a bill that would prevent FBO operators from charging ramp fees to transient customers.

The exact wording of the bill is that an FBO “at an airport located in South Carolina may not charge a fee, including a ramp fee, to aircraft that do not use their services and are parked at the airport less than a full day if any local, state or federal funds have been used to fund or improve the airport.”

The idiocy of this idea is really beyond my comprehension.

I worked at an FBO and heard pilot after pilot complain about paying ramp fees for any number of reasons.  On the rare occasion that an aircraft pulls up, drops someone off, and immediately leaves, I can understand not charging anything, IF the FBO decides that the goodwill is a benefit to their business.

While the land may be public, it is leased to private companies that have to turn a profit in any way that they can.  The most important avenue for this income is fuel, but with the rising cost of fuel, plane owners are being much more frugal with their fuel purchases.  This is where ramp fees come in to ensure that the FBO can actually make some money.

I am curious how exactly an aircraft can be parked on an FBO ramp, and not use their services.  From the moment a plane comes onto the ramp, it is likely marshalled by an employee of the FBO.  Upon stopping that same employee will likely chock the plane and approach the crew to offer available services. Even if the crew doesn’t need anything else they have already used the services of the FBO.

Let’s say that the plane parks itself so no marshaller was needed, which is unsafe and should never happen, the aircraft is still taking up valuable space on the FBO ramp.  It’s true that some days there is plenty of space and it really isn’t a big deal, but during busy days when space is at a premium, why should aircraft owners not have to pay for the real estate they are occupying?

I would say that if an airport wants to support an idea like this they could easily designate a transient ramp where there are absolutely no services available, but even then it would have to be monitored to allow passengers on and off the airport.  How will that person get paid?

If a plane is staying for even half a day the crew will have to use some of the services of the FBO to include restrooms, concessions, or a crew car to go and get some food.  Does that mean that FBO’s need to start monitoring their bathroom or drinking fountain to ensure customers are paying for all services used?

Clearly I am being somewhat extreme, but most FBO’s are walking a thin line as it is, and if you take away one of the few fallbacks they have then you are making it even harder on them to make a profit, or even pay their bills.

The only way a crazy idea like this would work is if the FBO were to receive some sort of credit for handling aircraft that “didn’t use their services” from the airport.  But even then it would be a logistical and bookkeeping nightmare.

I can understand wanting to encourage business aviation in your state, but this is not the way.

What other ways could FBO’s recover their costs if they lost the ability to charge ramp fees?

January 31, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Lawmakers Reach Deal on Labor to Clear FAA Funding for Takeoff – The Hill’s Transportation Report

Lawmakers reach deal on labor to clear FAA funding for takeoff – The Hill’s Transportation Report.

Apparently Congress finally heard something that people were saying.  This to me was a no brainer, and the shocker is that it took so long.  I am glad they were able to get past their differences and make something happen.

Obviously the bill is not passed yet, and they specifically said there are still some other issues to work out, but it should be able to go through now.

At this point only Harry Reid has released the news, but that is at the very least a good sign because he is the vocal leader of the senate.

I think it is great that the bill is expected to last four years.  That should give the FAA some time to really get things done.  With all of the stuff that needs to get done they really needed some time to make it happen.

January 20, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

FAA Reauthorization Still on Hold Thanks to Politics

Millions of people step onto planes all around the world without a single thought of the regulatory agencies that control the industry.  In the US we are lucky to have the safest airspace in the world, but no one thinks of that while they ignore the pre-flight instructions from the flight attendants.

The vast majority of people will never talk to the air traffic controllers at airports and en route control centers throughout the country, but they are there everyday to keep fliers safe.  People are probably even less likely to ever meet the countless inspectors who ensure that aircraft, pilots, mechanics, and dozens of other professions do their job properly.

According to Michael Huerta, acting administrator of the FAA, civil aviation contributes $1.3 trillion to our economy and generates more than 10 million jobs.  The FAA oversees all of that, but for almost five years they have been working on temporary time.

Since 2007, when the last authorization bill was passed, there have been 22 extensions, and we stand poised on the edge of number 23.  Congress has until January 31 to get a new bill passed, but based on their inability to do pretty much anything I do not have my hopes very high.

Apparently the whole bill is hung up on one portion which specifies voting procedures for unions.  While it is an important point of discussion, it is something that should simply be taken out of the bill for now so that everything else can move forward.

The lack of an authorization bill is not only keeping everyone in the FAA on their heels, but pretty much everyone involved in aviation.  Airports are not starting some projects they other wise would because they are waiting on funding from the FAA.  Funding that the FAA cannot hand out until they are authorized to do so.

Arguably more important than that, is the inability of the FAA to really push forward with the NextGen air traffic control system.  Again, most people don’t think much of it, but the reality is that the new system will create jobs, save on fuel costs, and make air travel for efficient for everyone involved.

This Congress seems to be content with doing nothing simply to spite the members of the other parties, but that is completely unacceptable.  They were elected to do a job, and so far they have completely failed to do it.

January 19, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

“NextGen: Transforming our National Airspace System into the Next Century of Flight”

Below you will find the full text of a speech given by Michael Huerta, the acting administrator of the FAA, during the New Horizons Forum.  The Forum was held in conjunction with the AIAA Aerospace Sciences meeting in Nashville, TN.

He brings up a lot of interesting, and incredibly important topics that I will discuss further in the coming days, but I felt the full text was valuable.  With all of the confusion in the government, and the FAA in particular his comments are very thought-provoking.

January 10, 2012

New Horizons Forum


Thank you for that kind introduction. It’s a pleasure to be here in Nashville with all of you today.

This is truly a pivotal time in aviation history.We are moving into the Next Generation air transportation system, or NextGen – transforming from the ground-based navigation of the last century to the satellite-based navigation of tomorrow.

We are also moving towards an aviation system that will be safer, more efficient and environmentally sustainable – with more direct routes, fewer delays and more predictability.

It’s not just the United States. The entire world is changing the way it handles air traffic.

Now, we know that in order to meet the challenges of transforming our air traffic control system in the next 15 years, the FAA as an organization must also evolve.

Our agency grew around 1950s-era technology and software systems. And, I might add that these systems are extremely safe and work very well.

During that same time period, the computing power of a mainframe that took up an entire room now fits in a light-weight tablet. Cameras have evolved from film to digital. And the number of Web sites has grown exponentially from hundreds in the early 1990s to hundreds of millions today.

Likewise, we need to transform our system for managing air traffic too; NextGen is the way of the future. We cannot afford to be left behind, and it’s important that all of us embrace this process.

In many ways, the FAA is at a tipping point where we have a lot of things happening at once.

We have the immense technological change of NextGen on the one hand, and we have a generational change in our workforce on the other.

Change of this magnitude is not easy, but it is a unique and exciting opportunity for all of us. We are facing a whole new way of thinking and operating. And we are positioning ourselves with stretch goals to meet these challenges in the months and years ahead.

We have taken a good long look in the mirror and we know we need to make certain changes that will serve as the foundation for our success in years ahead.

We’re focused on streamlining shared services within the FAA to avoid duplication and increase efficiency.  We’re studying our current governance model to ensure we’re prepared to manage issues across the FAA as effectively as possible.  And ultimately, what we do comes down to people, 47,000 FAA employees. That’s why we’re also updating our human resources model to ensure we are attracting and retaining top-notch talent across the board.

As I talk about the FAA’s strongest asset, its people, let me briefly describe the changes that are taking place in our workforce, in terms of generations, to illustrate the degree of change we are undergoing as an agency.

We are going from baby boomers to GenXers and Millennials in air traffic control and other areas.

The FAA hired a substantial number of controllers in the years immediately following the 1981 air traffic controllers strike. Those workers are now coming to the age where they are ready to retire.

Last year, about 18 percent of the air traffic controller workforce was eligible to retire. And we estimate that we’ll need to hire about 1,000 controllers per year for the next 10 years.

Already in the last five years, we’ve hired more than 7,800 controllers.

The percentages for potential turnover are even more pronounced in other areas of the agency.

Let’s talk about aviation safety inspectors. About 47 percent of aviation safety inspectors will be eligible for retirement within the next five years. And about 41 percent of our acquisitions workforce will be eligible as well as 31 percent of the agency’s engineers.

I know many of you have studied engineering, science and math – or you are in school now – so let me tell you – all of those skills are a good fit for those jobs and the needs we have at FAA.

People are our strength, and we need a workforce that has, above all, a core commitment to safety and professionalism. But we also need to make sure we have people with the skills and talents needed for the NextGen air traffic system.

It turns out that what has been an ongoing and profound change in the FAA workforce has a positive side in terms of moving the workforce towards embracing new technology.

We have noticed that the Millennial workers have a very different orientation to technology. They are much more comfortable with all kinds of technology and they are demanding that we use it.

Rather than being nervous about new technology, they are anxious for the next upgrade. They are waiting in line for the iPhone 2 and 3 and 4 and 4S.

These new workers don’t want to be handed a memo at work, they want to receive it automatically on their phones. And we’re listening and changing. Several months ago we released MyFAA Mobile – which makes basic information from the FAA employee Web site completely available to employees.

And just yesterday, we took another step. We released a mobile phone optimized version of FAA.gov which provides much of the most popular information and services that pilots and industry stakeholders and the public at large are looking for. This will make all kinds of public FAA information easily accessible.

To continue our transformation, the FAA is working with many partners to develop and foster a workforce that is schooled in the STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering and math.

This is not a matter of focusing on high schools or junior colleges. To do this, we must reach down into middle school and start fostering the kind of attention on STEM disciplines early on.

There’s both a huge demand and a huge shortage for these kinds of skills in the United States.

I am very proud of our partnership with AIAA in this effort. And I thank you for your support. We rely upon you to help us meet the challenges we face in this area.

To promote STEM education, we are mentoring teachers and working with others to hold boot camps for educators. We encourage teachers to give their lessons with an aeronautical twist. For example, when we teach the laws of Sir Isaac Newton, we ask them to consider using the four forces of flight as an example – lift, weight, thrust and drag.

If they are going to talk about navigation, we ask, why not use a visual flight rules sectional chart to teach the lesson rather than the typical road atlas?

There’s a myth that aeronautics is so difficult that the average teacher can’t handle it, and we want to bust that myth.

Our partner in this effort, NASA, has developed an “app” for that.

We will be assisting with the launch this month of the “app” called Smart Skies, which teaches children basic algebra through a simple air traffic control simulation.

Instead of playing “Angry Birds,” they can play air traffic control.

This is an ongoing effort and we very much appreciate the partnership with AIAA, the Air Force, NASA and others to continue to foster aerospace and astronautic education.  It’s in everyone’s interest to support STEM.

And now I want to turn your attention to another issue that really does deserve everyone’s support, and that is the upcoming reauthorization of the FAA.

The FAA’s current spending authority expires on January 31. We have now had more than 20 extensions. We need an FAA reauthorization bill in order to give the taxpayers and the traveling public the aviation system this country deserves. When Congress returns to work later this month, the House will have only six days in session before this important legislative work needs to be accomplished.

This is something that is of extreme importance for the nation’s economy.  Civil aviation contributes $1.3 trillion to our economy and generates more than 10 million jobs. And NextGen is vital to protecting these contributions. The current system simply cannot accommodate anticipated growth.

In closing, I want to give you an update on a great NextGen project we kicked off in Houston yesterday.

We talk about NextGen as something in the future. But there are many benefits of satellite-based navigation that we are deploying right now.

And in the Houston metro area we are creating NextGen solutions at two major airports and the surrounding airspace. These are part of President Obama’s effort to fast-track needed infrastructure projects to help the economy and spur growth.

The FAA is creating Performance Based Navigation procedures, along with environmentally friendly Optimized Profile Descents, which allow aircraft to make managed descents at reduced engine power settings, thus saving fuel and generating fewer emissions.

These are part of the “invisible,” but very real infrastructure of our aerospace system.

Yesterday we had our version of a groundbreaking on these important infrastructure projects.

These changes are forecast to save millions of dollars in fuel per year and also cut greenhouse gas emissions by thousands of tons.

We expect these “green” procedures to be completed in the next two years.

To do this, we are streamlining our process for environmental studies.  And this streamlining is going to save a lot of time.

Rather than designing and engineering a set of procedures and working until all the “I”s are dotted before sending it over for environmental review – we are doing much of the preliminary environmental work concurrently with the design process.

This way we are able to identify and mitigate environmental issues earlier in the process.

We expect to shave a year off the process this way, and make these NextGen solutions available all the more quickly by doing this kind of workflow change.

That is what is happening in Houston and we hope it will serve as a model for other metro areas around the country as we redesign airspace nationwide.

This is just one example of the improvements we’ll see through NextGen.

As we move forward, our goal is to reach the next level of safety and prepare our workforce for the future. This is a very exciting time in aviation. Together we are creating the template for a new system.  I appreciate your help, your energy and your bright ideas as we embark on the next century of flight.

January 18, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Aviation User Fees are One More Bad Idea to Lower the Deficit

User fees in aviation seem to be the bad idea that will never go away.  For as long as I have been associated with aviation I have heard talk of user fees hitting the industry.  The current proposal from the White House calls for a $100 per-flight fee to help lower the federal deficit.

For those not familiar with the industry that may not seem like a huge deal, and it isn’t, for the major airlines who will simply pass on the fee to their customers which works out to practically nothing per passenger.  For general aviation users $100 could easily be a large percentage of their overall costs.

Supporters of the fees argue that everyone using the system should pay their fair share, but I guess that all depends on your definition of fair.  Currently the air traffic control system is funded largely by taxes on fuel that are substantially higher for general aviation users than commercial airlines.

The following excerpt from an article at aopa.org gives great insight into the current system and what really should be considered fair.

Paying the 21.9-cents-per-gallon tax on noncommercial jet fuel, operators of a Gulfstream IV business jet would pay about $87 in fuel taxes. The commercial jet fuel tax is 4.4 cents per gallon; even with a much higher fuel burn, operators of an Airbus A320 would pay about $68 in fuel taxes.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that general aviation aircraft are already paying their fair share.  Unfortunately it appears that the people who are making the decisions don’t seem to understand the industry.

The aforementioned article also points out the ambiguities in the wording of the proposal which further shows the lack of true understanding by the authors.  I’m sure it is not really surprising to anyone that a government proposal would be filled with ambiguities, but it has to call into question the proposals validity.

User fees don’t appear to be a reality in the immediate future, but they also don’t appear to be going completely away.  Having used the current air traffic control system I totally agree that getting the NextGen system up and running is of the utmost importance, but doing it at the expense of the people who use and support that system just doesn’t seem to make sense.

January 17, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.