Contact: Dan Hubbard, (202) 783-9360, dhubbard@nbaa.org
Washington, DC, January 9, 2009 – The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) today warned that businesses trying to recover in the current, unforgiving economic climate would be severely impacted by language in a bill to reform the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), first passed by Congress last year.
The proposal was introduced today by Rep. Barney Frank (D-4-MA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. According to the press release issued by his office, the bill will “require divestment of private aircraft or leases.”
“Congress may be trying to bolster the economy, but enactment of this provision will put the jobs of tens of thousands of hard-working Americans at risk,” NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said. “This could devastate the small businesses that fuel and service general aviation airplanes, further harm the manufacturers who are already laying off workers and slowing assembly lines, and take away a tool from companies that need general aviation airplanes to operate to and from the thousands of U.S. communities that have little or no scheduled airline service.”
To underscore his point, Bolen cited to several measures illustrating the challenges already confronting the general aviation community. As industry analysts have recently noted, general aviation flight operations are down, and fuel consumption has been off this year. The market for used airplanes is larger than ever. Aircraft maintenance and repair shops are hurting. And Fixed Based Operators (FBO’s) – the small businesses that service general aviation aircraft, many of which always operate at the economic margins – have been further stressed.
“Clearly, the people and businesses in the general aviation community are weathering one of the worst economic storms anyone has ever seen,” Bolen continued. “These workers include schedulers, dispatchers, maintenance technicians, pilots, training professionals, insurers, and many other disciplines – all good jobs, performed by good people. The work they do matters to the companies they work for, the communities they live in, and our nation as a whole.
“We understand the importance of providing American taxpayers with strong assurances that federal monies are being utilized to protect jobs, rescue troubled assets and provide structural reforms to the domestic economy. But Congress needs to craft the legislation so that it doesn’t harm this critical industry. We urge in the strongest possible terms that Congress eliminate the general aviation requirement from the TARP language.”
Founded in 1947 and based in Washington, DC, the National Business Aviation Association, Inc. (NBAA) is the leading organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful. The Association represents more than 8,000 companies and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention, the world’s largest civil aviation trade show. Learn more about NBAA at www.nbaa.org.
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