President Obama’s mantra during his 2008 election campaign was all about change. Change we can believe. Change Washington. Enough already. Change is supposed to generate a different outcome, one that would hopefully be more positive. However, some of the initiatives that have been coming out of the White House since early 2009 just don’t live up to that expectation. The onslaught by this president on the general aviation industry, in particular, is seemingly endless.
First, corporations, which employ millions of American citizens and contribute so much to the U.S. and global economy, are blamed for using general aviation aircraft for business purposes in an economic recession. (By the way Mr. President, those big businesses help thousands of small aviation businesses that maintain and repair, fuel and service these aircraft.) Then, the importance of bonus depreciation to the business community is disregarded and there is the attempt to take away the inherent tax advantages that benefit so many businesses that use general aviation aircraft.
Finally − first during the annual budget offerings, then via the debt ceiling discussions last summer, and now with the President’s latest and greatest debt and jobs plan − the assessment of a “$100 flight fee, made payable to the FAA, by aviation operators who fly in controlled airspace” is considered. (Military aircraft, public aircraft, recreational piston aircraft, air ambulances, aircraft operating outside of controlled airspace, and Canada-to-Canada flights would be exempted.) The premise for this proposal is that “general aviation users currently pay a fuel tax, but this revenue does not cover their fair-share-use of air traffic services.” Then increase the fuel tax! The general aviation community has been saying this all along. Increasing the fuel tax is the cleanest, easiest and most productive way to generate revenue. Paying a new group of bureaucrats to handle the acceptance and processing of a new $100 flight fee only creates yet another burden on businesses to comply with the FAA and tax regulations. The idea is beyond absurd and the proposal is fraught with peril in terms of the vagueness by which “aviation operators” may be defined − leaving that determination to those same bureaucrats who would handle the collection and processing of the flight fee.
Mr. President, the general aviation industry is an invaluable stimulator of the national economy. How about treating it as such rather than taking every opportunity to bash hard working Americans and small businesses that are the backbone of the U.S. economy? How about taking the time and effort your administration puts into these absurd proposals to, instead, learn more about the true value general aviation provides to the U.S. and global economy. Mr. President, it’s time for your administration to change its tune and embrace all the good that comes from the general aviation community.
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