Contact: Dan Hubbard, 202-783-9360, dhubbard@nbaa.org
Washington, DC, Dec. 22, 2020 – The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) today applauded congressional passage of a bill to deliver additional coronavirus relief and provide government appropriations for fiscal year 2021. The legislation is expected to be signed into law by President Trump this week.
The $900 billion in COVID-19 relief, attached to a $1.4 trillion year-end omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government for the next fiscal year, provides additional relief for citizens and companies, including air carriers. The bill also advances numerous NBAA priorities, including the availability of payroll support for general aviation air carriers.
Among the many provisions in the bill is an additional $15 billion to fund and extend the air carrier payroll support program, for which general aviation air carriers are eligible. The bill also contains $2 billion in relief for the nation’s airports, with $45 million specifically allocated for general aviation airports
“This new, bipartisan relief package provides an important and helpful path forward as we all work to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “Our industry continued to make our voices heard in Congress, ensuring these important provisions to support general aviation airports, air carriers, businesses and workers were maintained and expanded as we continue to navigate through this unprecedented crisis.”
The appropriations portion of the bill contains NBAA-supported language calling for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop a program that allows private aircraft operators to block their Mode S transponder code and similar identifying information from real-time or near real-time public tracking.
“This important victory for our industry codifies the enhanced privacy and security protections available to business aircraft owners and operators under the Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed (LADD) program,” Bolen explained. “Implementation of a dedicated FAA privacy program will mark the culmination of NBAA’s steadfast efforts to ensure operator anonymity protections are successfully maintained in the ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) environment.”
The COVID relief measure also allocates $284 billion for first and second forgivable loans under the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), which further allows loan recipients to deduct payroll costs and other expenses covered by forgiven loans from their taxes.
Also, the bill provides $20 billion in new funding to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program for small businesses and extends the employee retention tax credit, passed under the CARES Act, allowing qualifying employers to take a tax credit on a portion of their employment tax obligations.
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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 11,000 company and professional members and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), the world’s largest civil aviation trade show. Learn more about NBAA at nbaa.org.
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