A Defining Year for Business Aviation in Washington

As the calendar progresses toward year’s end, it’s a good moment to consider NBAA’s advocacy work to advance business aviation’s policy agenda, and the implications for the coming year and beyond.

For example, safety, the industry’s highest priority, was in focus perhaps as never before, as a series of troubling incidents and tragic accidents galvanized government leaders and the American public around ATC modernization as a national priority.

NBAA was a founding member of the Modern Skies Coalition, a group of more than 50 aviation organizations, that secured congressional legislation providing a $12.52 billion down payment for a brand-new ATC system, with investments in new technologies, facilities and controllers. In the coming months, all stakeholders will need to remain focused on achieving our modernization aims, and preserving America’s aviation leadership.

Our nation’s foremost position in aviation and aerospace was also a central part of this year’s debate over trade and tariff policies. As the administration considered agreements with trading partners, NBAA underscored the importance of the civil aviation sector, which has a $104 billion trade surplus, and supports 1.8 million jobs.

Key to this success story is the 1979 Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, which creates a fair and even trading landscape for aviation, while maintaining high safety, manufacturing and certification standards.

NBAA welcomed a return to the 1979 agreement’s “zero-for-zero” approach to tariffs on aerospace products as part of this year’s trade agreements with the UK and EU, and we will continue working to ensure it is reflected in future trade arrangements.

The year also included a welcome development on the tax front, with the passage of NBAA-supported budget legislation containing permanent reinstatement of immediate expensing, or bonus depreciation, for new and used aircraft. Economists have long cited the success of this allowance in helping American companies upgrade key competitive assets, while supporting business aircraft manufacturing jobs.

The same budget bill also extended by four years the Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit incentivizing production of sustainable aviation fuel to 2031.

NBAA and the industry also made meaningful progress on business aviation security, with the rollout of a new FAA plan for removing personally identifiable information from the agency’s Aircraft Registry.

In hundreds of comments submitted to the FAA to highlight the need for the new protections, NBAA members noted that publicly available, personally identifiable aircraft information has enabled flight-stalking by anyone, with any motive. Going forward, NBAA will work with the FAA to strike a balance allowing information for legitimate uses while safeguarding sensitive personal data.

Safety, security, taxes and trade – these enduring concerns for business aviation figured prominently in the Washington policy arena in 2025. With your support our voice was heard on these and other critical issues, and your engagement will be key to continued success as we head into the new year.