"Letter: A local airport's role"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Letter to the Editor
A local airport's role
The Raleigh - Durham (NC) News Observer


Your April 16 editorial about local airport funding mischaracterized
business aviation, air traffic system funding and the needs of communities
nationwide.

First, local airports provide aviation access for towns with little or no
airline service. The beneficiaries include schools, universities, emergency
medical services, postal services and fire-fighting teams, among others.
These airports, and the aircraft that use them, transport people and goods,
generating billions of dollars in economic output annually and employing
more than one million people.

Also overlooked were the mostly small and mid-size businesses in the
business aviation community that use general aviation aircraft not used by
the airlines or military, including pistons and turboprops, to maximize
employee efficiency and productivity.

Furthermore, a proposal for funding the Federal Aviation Administration was
poorly explained. That proposal is being pushed by the airlines; it would
replace our ultra-efficient tax system for funding aviation needs with new
user fees that would favor giant hub airports over community airports.

All Americans benefit from the nation's airport system, and proposals for
FAA funding must preserve aviation access for everyone. That won't happen
with a scheme that saddles businesses with tax hikes and fees and that
disadvantages community airports.

Ed Bolen
President and CEO, National Business Aviation Association
Washington

   Post your opinion on this story in the CAA General Aviation Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php

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