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Sequestration & Our DOT Secretary

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Jetwhine
Sequestration & Our DOT Secretary
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I was reading NATCA President Paul Rinaldi‘s remarks yesterday from his luncheon talk at the Washington Aero Club in advance of Friday’s “end of the world” or “no big deal” sequestration day depending on whom you believe . Pretty nice timing for a labor advocate to attend a DC forum to detail the industry ills that may be in store for us thanks to sequestration.

Towers may close, controllers may be taking unpaid days off and the flying public may well see the National Airspace System grind along much slower than usual. Of course, despite the rhetoric, my FAA sources tell me the details of what facilities will actually shut down, for how long and beginning when hasn’t yet been set in stone (late news now says some airports such as ORD may experience controller shortages after April 1) But still, what a mess. We really needed just a little more uncertainty in this industry didn’t we?

US_House_Committee - jetwhine.comNo matter which side of the aisle you support however, you must agree that Congress created this mess. Trouble is we’re the ones who will experience the pain, not them, despite the lofty speeches from outgoing DOT Secretary Ray LaHood trying to sound as if he feels our pain. Oh please. His inability to take a stand for our industry is part of the reason we’re in this mess. [Read more…] about Sequestration & Our DOT Secretary

Alphabets Collaborate for Aviation’s Future

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Less than a decade ago, when the symptom’s of aviation’s decline were firmly manifested, a number of aviation’s alphabet organizations focused mostly on increasing their slice of a shrinking pie. With the number of active pilots and new pilots shrinking faster than Greenland’s glaciers, it seems that they have finally decided to put their individual interests in line and address the problems as a cooperative, unified front.

AV0-7That’s a good start, because the the problems, from the pilot population to airspace challenges to user fees and other restrictive elements, are too many for one organization to battle on their own. During EAA AirVenture 2012, the heads of (in alphabetical order) Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), Helicopter Association International (HAI), National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO), and National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) gathered on stage to discuss cooperative efforts.

EAA is clearly an active instigator in this effort, a point made clear at its AirVenture Learn to Fly Discovery Center. EAA and the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) have some history, as does the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) and NAFI. Yet here are all three working together to present a pilot proficiency program every day during AirVenture.

[Read more…] about Alphabets Collaborate for Aviation’s Future

No User Fees for GA … Yet

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I was trying to explain some of the subtleties behind the word altruism to my daughter this morning at breakfast, and it made me think about the fight against aviation user fees.

And yes, we have a few truly interesting family meals around our house. Those dine-ins are, in fact, a large part of what my wife and I see as our responsibility as parents, to sit down at least a couple of times each week to find out what’s happening with our family in general, especially our daughter. We don’t know for sure they help, but we believe in the process enough to make the effort.

Altruistic deed-doers make the effort because they believe it’s the right move for their family or their community. And they don’t expect a reward at the other end for their labors either. [Read more…] about No User Fees for GA … Yet

User (as in you pay) Fees (as in you pay more)

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The Friday before AirVenture is supposed to be a really exciting time with friends gathering from all around the world to come hang out for good times and a week of spouse-numbing airplane speak. We’re actually hosting the Plane Crazy Down Under guys at our home in Chicago and it’s been great to connect with people we’ve known only as voices from another hemisphere. Luckily David Vanderhoof from the Airplane Geeks arrived to keep the US contingent in balance. But a discussion we had just this morning over breakfast about how the crushing user fee structure has annihilated general aviation industry in Australia was eye-opening. The Airplane Geeks are planning an entire show soon to talk about it, because it’s THAT critical to keep flying as we know it.

This year, AirVenture has a massive stormcloud hovering nearby … just close enough to realize it’s there, but not yet upon us (and no, I’m not talking about those Wisconsin thunderstorms). The topic is user fees – yes, again – for all aspects of business and general aviation. When I wrote about this a few months back as an idea hiding in the wings, I actually was hoping I was wrong. I guess I wasn’t.

And this time, user fees are not simply an agenda being shoved at us by another piece of our own industry the way the airlines came at us a few years ago. This time it’s coming from the folks we sent to Washington to represent us. [Read more…] about User (as in you pay) Fees (as in you pay more)