Call to Action: An FAA Bill We Must Support

March 22, 2016

Dear NBAA member:
As you know, the business aviation community has for some time been battling proposals for creating a privatized Air Traffic Control (ATC) system, which have been offered as part of the debate underway in Congress over reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

As part of this battle, we have mobilized strongly against H.R.4441, FAA reauthorization legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is being pushed by the big airlines, and calls for a privatized ATC, funded through new user fees and overseen by an airline-centric board of directors.

With this message, I want to report on some good news: a recently introduced Senate FAA reauthorization bill (S.2658) sets aside this risky privatization scheme, in favor of a smart, targeted approach to FAA reauthorization and aviation system modernization.

Equally important, the bill recognizes that the nation’s airports and airspace operate in the public interest, and should serve the public, including all aviation stakeholders and the citizens and communities they serve.

NBAA strongly supports the legislation, and I am asking you to do so as well.

Tell Your Members of Congress You Support S.2658

In short, this bill includes many important, targeted solutions designed to ensure the United States remains the world leader in aviation five, 10 and 25 years from now.

The legislation also reflects a number of priorities identified by NBAA and other aviation-stakeholder groups, including measures to streamline the certification process for aviation technologies, raise the bar on aviation safety, integrate unmanned aircraft systems, accelerate implementation of a Next Generation (“NextGen”) aviation system and provide a plan for the U.S. Department of Transportation to modernize third-class medical requirements for small-aircraft pilots.

Simply put, this is the right bill, at the right time, and along with our endorsement for the legislation, we have created a message for the association’s online Contact Congress resource. You can send the message to your elected officials, to let them know S.2658 has your support as well.

By contacting your members of Congress today on this issue, we can call upon lawmakers to say “yes” to smart FAA reauthorization and modernization, and “no” to a distracting and unneeded debate over ATC privatization. I urge you to notify your legislators today of your support for S.2658.

Ed Bolen
President and CEO
National Business Aviation Association