NBAA Outlines FAA Reauthorization Priorities

Contact: Dan Hubbard, (202) 783-9360, dhubbard@nbaa.org

Washington, DC, March 24, 2015 – National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen today set forth the business aviation community’s top priorities as Congress begins work on crafting legislation for “reauthorization”, or funding and governance of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

In written testimony submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Aviation, Bolen outlined nine “guiding principles” NBAA and its Members consider fundamental for ensuring that proposals offered in conjunction with FAA reauthorization support business aviation, which helps generate over a million American jobs and more than $200 billion in economic activity each year.

Bolen’s testimony was put forward as part of an Aviation Subcommittee hearing focused on FAA reauthorization, and aviation system modernization, titled, ““Options for FAA Air Traffic Control Reform.” View Bolen’s testimony submitted to the House Aviation Subcommittee in its entirety.

“The U.S. today has the best air transportation system in the world, but in order for us to be able to make that statement a decade from now, changes will be necessary,” Bolen’s testimony states. “How we accomplish those changes is at the heart of the reauthorization debate. NBAA and its Members are committed to the changes needed to make NextGen a reality, but we will not support changes that fail to preserve business aviation’s access to airspace and airports in a safe, predictable and affordable manner. The debate over how to get from where we are to where we want to go is one NBAA believes should be undertaken in the context of data, facts and guiding principles.”

Bolen outlined those guiding principles as follows:

“Ensuring that America continues to lead the world in all aspects of aviation is clearly in our country’s best interest, and should be a national priority,” Bolen’s testimony states. “NBAA is fully committed to the work being done to transition to a NextGen system.”

Bolen added that achieving the goals for system modernization, and ensuring that the interests of all aviation stakeholders, including business aviation, are given priority by Congress “is the way to ensure that America’s aviation system remains the world’s leader, not the follower – whether that be five years, 10 years or 30 years from now.” 

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Founded in 1947 and based in Washington, DC, the National Business Aviation Association (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 10,000 companies and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition, the world’s largest civil aviation trade show. Learn more about NBAA at www.nbaa.org.

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