Sept. 23, 2022
When Bloomberg News published a Sept. 20 article, “American Air CEO Wants Rockets, Private Jets to Help Fund FAA,” with renewed accusations over whether business aviation pays appropriately for its use of the aviation system, NBAA was quick to respond.
“Companies launching rockets and satellite payloads, along with private jet operators need to pay – or pay more – to fund the nation’s monitoring grid for flights,” the Bloomberg story said of remarks made during an industry conference by Robert Isom, chief executive officer of American Airlines Group, Inc.
Bloomberg reported that, in looking to the upcoming FAA reauthorization debate, Isom went on to say: “Airspace is going to be a critical, critical issue. The only ones that pay for that are the airlines. Commercial airlines are paying FAA and ATC for all these other things.”
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen offered a detailed written response to a reporter’s request for comment, which in essence said Isom’s statement “fails the credibility test with experts the world over because the costs for our aviation system aren’t determined by a small airplane crossing an air traffic controller’s radar screen over Kansas at midnight, but are instead driven by the demands of the airlines’ costly hub-and-spoke network.”
Bloomberg cited a small portion of Bolen’s full statement in its published story. View the article.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.