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the board required to raise the airline user fees. The proposal also included language guaranteeing access for small operators and small communities to establish a three-part oversight process. Shuster planned to bring the bill up for committee review on June 27 and reach the House floor by mid-July.
In opposition of the proposal, several general aviation groups – the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), Na- tional Business Aviation Association (NBAA), National Air Transportation Association (NATA), General Avia- tion Manufacturers Association (GAMA), and Helicop- ter Association International (HAI) – showed unity in a joint statement that expresses in part:
“After a thorough and detailed review of Chair- man Bill Shuster’s (R-PA) proposal to remove our nation’s air traffic control operations from the Federal Aviation Administration (FA A), we have concluded that these reforms, while well intentioned, will produce uncertainty and unintended consequences without achieving the desired outcomes.
We believe Chairman Shuster has raised the issue of reform in a meaningful and thoughtful manner and while we enjoy the safest most efficient air traffic control system in the world, we also believe that reforms, short of privatization, can better address the FAA’s need to improve its ability to modernize our system.”
The following day, the Senate released its version of the FAA Reauthorization Bill introduced by Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD). At the writing of this article the details of the bill had not yet been posted, but according to NBAA President Ed Bolen, “In addition to targeting support toward implementation of a Next Generation (NextGen) aviation system, the bill addresses several other priorities identified by NBAA and other organizations, including provisions for streamlining the certification process for aviation technologies, enhancing aviation safety and integrating unmanned aircraft systems into the National Airspace System.”
Bolen continued, “Also notable is the Senate bill’s lack of controversial language to privatize ATC oversight. NBAA has long had significant concerns with the notion of privatizing ATC, which would turn control over the ATC system – a natural monopoly that currently serves the public’s interest, and is overseen by the public’s elected representatives in Congress – to a new entity governed by private interests.”
As the debate heats up, it may only be a matter of time before there is an FAA Reauthorization Bill that can be signed and one we can hopefully agree is fair for all parties involved. KA
JULY 2017
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 13