GA's "fair share"

Here's what your new buddy Norm Pinetta recently said in a different forum:
“[i]t is clear … that the current level of [GA] tax payments does not cover
the costs GA imposes on the FAA.” Like I said before, this guy really
knows his audience!

For those who will conclude I am making this up, here is the article,
containing the above quote.

GA Fees Don't Come Close to Covering Costs
General aviation contributes about 2 percent of all user contributions


The following column appears today in the May 28 edition of Aviation
Daily, in its "Departures: Opinions on Current Issues in Aviation"
featu

By Jim May, President and CEO, Air Transport Association

MAY 28 – Questions raised recently about whether the general aviation
community pays its fair share to use the national aviation system
certainly have sparked a debate. That was clearly evident in a recent
Aviation Daily Departures opinion piece (May 19) titled “GA must face down
airline tax, user-fee threats.”

It was compelling reading, but if only for this simple fact: The fees
general aviation operators pay today don’t even come close to covering the
costs of the federal aviation services they receive.

Consider air traffic control (ATC). The writer, National Air
Transportation Association President James Coyne, argued that “the basic
rationale for ATC is … to protect airline passengers.” ATC actually exists
to provide safe guidance to all aircraft that utilize its services. Each
user should pay its fair share.

The Airport and Airway Trust Fund is the primary funding source for FAA
operations and ATC. General aviation is a major user of FAA services,
accounting for 40 percent of flights handled by FAA centers, and 69
percent of operations handled by FAA towers. However, GA contributes less
than $200 million per year into the fund via fuel taxes—about 2 percent of
all user contributions. Commercial passenger and cargo airlines, and our
customers, pay the other 98 percent.

GA flights not using ATC still benefit from FAA Flight Service Stations,
which exclusively serve general aviation and cost the government $532
million annually—nearly three times more than GA pays into the Trust Fund.


We agree that GA pays higher per gallon fuel taxes, but those taxes are
GA’s only contribution to the Trust Fund. Commercial airlines and their
customers pay multiple taxes into the Trust Fund totaling $9.6 billion
annually. And their tax and fee burden is as high as 26 percent on a
typical $200 domestic round-trip ticket.

Airlines aren’t the only ones saying that GA underpays. FAA’s own studies
conclude that only 7 percent of GA air traffic control costs are recovered
from fees and taxes, while 95 percent of commercial airline costs are
recovered. And a newer Reason Foundation study shows commercial airline
cost recovery exceeds 130 percent. And the National Civil Aviation Review
Commission, chaired by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Norman
Mineta, noted: “[i]t is clear … that the current level of [GA] tax
payments does not cover the costs GA imposes on the FAA.”