Non-Subscriber Extract
US players fear user fees
- Article Tools
US players fear user fees
By Wes Carleton
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) submitted a detailed proposal on new funding arrangements to the White House Office of Management and the Budget in early April and, while its details are confidential, it is understood to propose the adoption of user fees, along with access to government or commercial bonds for capital projects.
However, the threat of user fees has created serious dissent within the aviation community, exacerbated by a 12-point statement of principles issued by the US Air Transport Association (ATA) in early March that called for a more equable allocation of FAA costs across airspace users. ATA proposed that fees be based on a very simple formula which simply charged for departures and "time in the system".
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) responded by stating that it was both unfair and illogical to charge a small turbine-powered executive aircraft the same fee as an Airbus A380, simply because they both produced similar blips on a controller's screen. Accordingly, the business community regarded the current fuel tax to be the fairest and most efficient way to support the FAA's costs.
Industry observers have told Jane's that the objection to the "similar blip" concept is reasonably valid, and they expect that in any final ruling this will be modified, perhaps by reinserting a weight or similar factor. However, they feel the argument that business aircraft use less ATC services is questionable, since there are some 5,000 executive jets operating in the US, all of which fly on airline-like flight plans and alongside commercial airliners, in high altitude ATC-controlled airspace, and the expected future wave of small jets could easily double their number.
274 of 1,593 words