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United States Pilots Association |
As the user fee issue takes stage front and center, AVFlash quoted FAA Administrator Marion Blakey as saying, “Tying fees to the cost of providing service protects both FAA and the customers who use FAA services. We also believe that a cost-based revenue structure would provide incentives to our customers to use limited resources efficiently and to the FAA to operate efficiently, as stakeholder involvement can help us ensure that we are concentrating on services that the customer wants and is willing to pay for.”
But then she goes on to say, “I want to be clear. I am not at this point advocating user fees, or endorsing new excise taxes, or urging debt financing, or seeking a bigger share of the General Fund. I am saying that we have an opportunity in the near future for positive change and we need to begin the discussion now. We need to have a funding mechanism that ensures our costs and revenues are aligned."
Sounds like user fees to me. What do you think?
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association