USPA News

TAKE ACTION ON USER FEES

To all:

I, too, have read AVFlash and the "quote" attributed to Ms. Blakey. What I feel we must all understand is the fact that Ms. Blakey and all of her underlings in management at the FAA are fighting for their survival. They feel that for them to survive, they must come up with alternatives to the present fuel tax and ticket surcharges. The one great option is user fees assessed against you and me and everyone else that flies. There is a huge down side to this option.

Let us assume that you wish to fly from Deming, New Mexico, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Do you need to obtain the most current weather from the FAA? No, you can get it for no cost from the Internet, the weather channel etc. The end result is most of us will not choose to call the 800 number for a weather briefing. How about filing a flight plan? If you knew it was going to cost you each time you did it, would you file? I think not. What about tower contact at your destination? Most of us will opt to go into an uncontrolled airport where calling your position out on a unicom or CTAF will not be create a charge. The end result is many (most) of us will not want to perpetuate the myth that we are the problem. We simply will choose not to use the system.

Let us not forget that we use 2% of the available facilities, and the airlines, the military, and commercial operators 98%. It certainly is not our fault that the system is not paying for itself under present conditions. Imagine what the shortfall will be when that one billion annual passenger count starts flying on the airlines.

It is time for all of us that want to continue to fly unencumbered by more federal imposition of user fees, to step up to the plate and start swinging the bat. For starters, I say it is time to stop trying to negotiate with Ms. Blakey and her ilk. Instead I suggest the following.

Let President Bush and your local politicians that you support, become aware that no more political contributions are coming, unless and until the issue of user fees is disposed of. Contact your two Senators and all of your Congress people, and advise them of your feelings on this issue. Emphasize the dangers involved if pilots choose to operate outside the system.

In the next week USPA will have a form letter up on our website. Pull the letter down, give copies to everyone you know, and let’s see if we can start a groundswell of protest before this becomes a done deal. Get your friends, your family, and the businesses at your local airports to send in their protests. Get the information out to your local media, tying the viability of the aviation companies operating in your area to the loss of their income as a result of user fees.

Together we can prevail.

Steve Uslan
President, USPA