|
United States Pilots Association |
AvWeb on Wednesday October 25th put out an article titled: IS FAA STACKING THE DECK ON USER FEES? It appears there has been a high level resignation from within the FAA. A new replacement has come on board, and just try to guess where she came from. Would you believe Northwest Airlines? We know Marion Blakey, Administrator of the FAA, wants user fees. Now we have the proverbial fox (no pun intended or implied) loose in the henhouse. We also know that the airlines, with the President of Northwest Airlines leading the charge, wants user fees installed and assessed so that they, the airlines, can benefit from reduced costs to them. This at a time when all know and understand that the current method of ticket taxes and fuel taxes are doing just fine carrying the burden of financing the FAA. Megan Rosia in her new job with the FAA will be the agency's chief liason with the congress and industry groups during the coming fights over reauthorizing the FAA and finding ways to pay for all of its programs.
I say it is high time the FAA put an individual representing General Aviation into a similar position as liason to GA. This person would act as a buffer to keep the FAA NEUTRAL over the issue of user fees. I do not believe the FAA should be favoring one segment of aviation over another. It is high time we stop this nonsense and restore the FAA to what they do best: regulate the air traffic control system in an unbiased manner.
Unless and until we as GA pilots and owners do something, we are going to wake up one day and see Northwest Airlines or someone similar controlling the skies, charging exorbitant fees to subsidize the airlines, and generally making a huge mess out of a system that appears to be performing just fine as is. Someone a lot smarter than me said it a long time ago. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Steve Uslan, President
United States Pilots Association