You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Winning A Reprieve<br />
by Craig Fuller<br />
President & CEO<br />
Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association<br />
A<br />
few weeks<br />
ago, in a<br />
moment<br />
of exceptional<br />
cross-party accord,<br />
both the House<br />
and Senate passed<br />
legislation giving<br />
the FAA more<br />
Craig Fuller<br />
freedom in how to<br />
handle spending,<br />
and more important, the spending cuts<br />
required under sequestration.<br />
The unanimous vote in the Senate<br />
and the overwhelming majority in the<br />
House sent a clear message that the<br />
FAA should be allowed to put safety of<br />
flight first. And the FAA did…sort of.<br />
The immediate action the FAA<br />
took with its newfound freedom was<br />
to stop planned furloughs, keeping air<br />
traffic controllers, safety inspectors,<br />
and thousands of others on the job.<br />
And that’s great news for pilots, aircraft<br />
operators, businesses, and the flying<br />
public. These FAA professionals are a<br />
Legislative Sessions Continued<br />
will not dive any deeper into this topic<br />
as it is very much of a moving target<br />
and today’s news becomes old news in<br />
just a few days – watch AOPA ePilot for<br />
the latest news.<br />
I attended the Missouri and Iowa<br />
Aviation Conferences in April where<br />
I spoke on developments in General<br />
Aviation... some good, some not so<br />
good as you all know. It was great to<br />
see and meet some of you there in<br />
Lake of the Ozarks and Des Moines,<br />
respectively. Missouri also celebrated its<br />
annual "Aviation Day at the Capitol" on<br />
April 9. Unfortunately, I was unable to<br />
attend due to a schedule conflict with a<br />
legislative hearing in Austin, Texas, but<br />
as always… it was a successful event.<br />
As summer approaches, so do fly-in<br />
events. I love it! I hope to fly to Iowa’s<br />
first “Pilot Palooza” in Boone, Iowa on<br />
key reason why the United States has<br />
the safest, most efficient air transport<br />
system in the world.<br />
It’s what the FAA didn’t do that<br />
had many people scratching their<br />
heads. The FAA did not immediately<br />
announce that it would rethink its plans<br />
to close 149 contract towers at general<br />
aviation airports nationwide.<br />
Numerous members of Congress<br />
made it clear that the reason they<br />
granted the FAA flexibility was to keep<br />
FAA employees on the job and to keep<br />
towers open. Forty-one senators sent<br />
a letter to Transportation Secretary<br />
Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator<br />
Michael Huerta stating that, “By<br />
providing up to $253 million in<br />
funding authority — far above the<br />
amount required to prevent furloughs<br />
— congressional intent is clear: the<br />
FAA should prevent the slated closure<br />
of 149 contract towers by fully funding<br />
the contract tower program.”<br />
And yet, other than to say that they<br />
were reviewing the provisions of the<br />
funding legislation, both the FAA and<br />
the Department of Transportation kept<br />
mum about the future of the towers.<br />
Municipalities affected by the planned<br />
tower closures filed a federal lawsuit<br />
against the FAA in the Ninth Circuit.<br />
June 1, and the "Nebraska Airfest and<br />
State Fly-In" in Alliance, Nebraska on<br />
August 17. I hope to see some of you<br />
there. Otherwise, this year’s AOPA<br />
Summit is a great opportunity to catch<br />
up as well, set for October 10-12 in<br />
Fort Worth, Texas. FMI: http://www.<br />
aopa.org/summit/<br />
From AOPA Headquarters<br />
AOPA provided an amicus brief<br />
focusing on the flawed process for<br />
determining which towers to close.<br />
Then on May 10, the FAA announced<br />
that it would keep the towers open after<br />
all. It’s a good decision and one that<br />
the entire aviation community worked<br />
diligently to bring about.<br />
Of course, the action keeping the<br />
towers open is really just a reprieve<br />
in the ongoing battle over what and<br />
how to cut spending in the face of<br />
sequestration.<br />
This autumn, the cuts will begin<br />
anew unless action is taken to bring<br />
sequestration to an end. We can only<br />
hope that this reprieve will give the<br />
FAA and others the time to make a<br />
careful and thoughtful evaluation of<br />
the potential consequences of spending<br />
cuts.<br />
Our national air transportation<br />
system is too important to be a pawn<br />
in a game of political chess. There’s no<br />
room for brinksmanship when we’re<br />
dealing with a system that daily affects<br />
millions of lives and produces billions<br />
in annual economic impact. Count on<br />
AOPA to continue the fight for the<br />
freedom to fly and the safety of our<br />
aviation system.<br />
q<br />
News and plans change rapidly. To<br />
stay abreast of what is happening in<br />
your region or when I will be in your<br />
area, visit http://www.aopa.org/centralsouthwest-rm,<br />
where you can read<br />
current stories and blogs, as well as view<br />
the region’s Twitter feed. You can find<br />
my e-mail address there too. q<br />
JUNE/JULY 2013 MIDWEST FLYER MAGAZINE 19
Change language