FAA On User Fees: "The piston thing is not going to happen." Divide And Conquer?

It looks like the airlines are getting panicky over the threat of
smaller air carriers' ability to provide good service to smaller
airports:


FAA REAUTHORIZATION: NEW BILL IN PLAY

With the FAA's proposal to restructure the way it's financed facing a
broad array of opposition, Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Trent
Lott, R-Miss., have come up with their own solution, The Hill
(http://thehill.com/business--lobby/r...007-05-01.html)
reported on Tuesday. Their bill is expected to be introduced in the
Senate later this week. It exempts piston-driven aircraft from user
fees and new taxes, but would shift a considerable share of costs off
the airlines and onto smaller turbine aircraft. The Alliance for
Aviation Across America (http://aviationacrossamerica.org/), a
recently formed alliance of groups opposed to user fees, has already
expressed "grave concerns" about the new bill.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#195121


On Sun, 22 Apr 2007 14:45:17 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote in :



Don't be fooled by the Divide And Conquer strategy of the pro ATC
privatization crowed. How long do you think piston aircraft will
remain exempt? Is there going to be a non-negotiable guarantee, that
once ATC is privatized, piston aircraft will REMAIN exempt from user
fees? I have heard no mention of such a guarantee.

It is definitely what is not mentioned by the FAA that is most
troubling. Funding this privatized NextGen ATC user fee system will
require both the NextGen and current ATC systems to be funded
simultaneously for years (decades?) until the existing ATC system is
deactivated. That's bad enough, but the privatization proponents are
demanding that the current Congressional oversight of FAA spending be
removed, so they'll have a blank check to fill their bank accounts!

Don't be fooled. Privatized ATC is a big corporate aircraft
manufacturer and airline boondoggle, make no mistake.

Currently airliners are lined-up nightly for over a thousand miles
nose-to-tail (within separation standards) all the way from Oklahoma
on their way to KLAX. How many more airliners can the NAS truly
accommodate? It is setting this limit, that should be the focus of
this discussion.