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

Eight years until grid lock:


FAA FACT SHEET PROMOTES AVIATION USER FEES

The FAA is painting a dismal picture of its own performance in an
unvarnished attempt to gather support for its controversial
proposed aviation user-fee funding system. In a fact sheet
(http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/...fm?newsId=8807)
released last week, the agency ties the funding package directly
to modernization of airspace management, which has been nicknamed
NextGen. "The Administration's NextGen Financing Reform Act, sent
to Congress in February, will provide a stable, cost-based revenue
stream to fund the transition to NextGen," the fact sheet reads.
"The current tax system expires Sept. 30, so Congress must act
now." Without airspace modernization, the fact sheet warns, the
system "will reach gridlock by 2015."
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#195188
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So it would appear that NextGen ATC privatization is necessary for the
airlines:


http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/...fm?newsId=8807
Fact Sheet
For Immediate Release
May 10, 2007


A System Under Stress: Aviation Congestion
The Problem:
Snapshot of Aviation Delays
The air transportation system is stretched thin. Currently, the
system handles 750 million passengers each year. We expect this
number to reach one billion by 2015 and forecasts indicate
increases in demand ranging from a factor of two to three by 2025.
The current system is already straining and will reach gridlock by
2015 if we fail to act. Passengers will experience ever-increasing
levels of congestion unless the air transportation system is
fundamentally transformed.

The percentage of on-time arrivals at the nation’s busiest
airports has steadily declined each year since 2002, when 82
percent of flights arrived on-time at the 35 busiest airports. In
2006 the on-time arrival rate at those airports fell to 75
percent.

Delays in 2006 were the worst in history. Passengers at the three
most delayed airports in the nation — Newark, JFK and LaGuardia —
experienced on-time arrivals roughly 65 percent of the time and
delays averaged one hour. That is unacceptable.

The National Vision: Reduce Delays, Eliminate Congestion
The FAA works to reduce delays and eliminate congestion every day,
starting literally from the ground up. The President’s goal is
simple and direct: get people and goods where they need to go as
quickly and efficiently as possible.

We are building new runways, installing new technology, and
putting new procedures in place to facilitate capacity and
efficiency enhancements.

To combat aviation congestion, the Department’s strategy calls for
major technology upgrades and capacity improvement projects at
major airports, all while managing congestion at key hot spots,
such as New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

We're Making Progress. Here’s How:
On the Ground: Enhanced Airport Capacity
Since 2001, we have built 10 miles of new runways at 10 of our
busiest airports.1 Together these accommodate over 1.6 million
more operations per year and decrease average delay per operation
at these airports by approximately 5 minutes.

By 2010, new projects will be completed at Boston, Philadelphia,
Los Angeles, Seattle-Tacoma, O’Hare, Dulles and Charlotte.

In the Air: The Next Generation Air Transportation System
(NextGen)

As air travel demand continues to rise, and it will, simply adding
pavement to the existing airports will not be enough.

The current air traffic system was built on 1960’s technology and
has reached the limits of its ability to handle more traffic. It
cannot be expanded. NextGen is a revolutionary approach that will
enable us to handle up to three times today’s traffic levels.

NextGen is a long-term transformation of our nation’s air
transportation system. It will use technologies such as
satellite-based navigation, surveillance, and networking. We are
setting the stage to develop an air transportation system that
will be safe, able to meet growing demand, and responsive to
evolving business models.

Aviation’s ability to continue to play its traditionally dynamic
role in our economy will be substantially diminished unless new
NextGen technology and procedures are put in to place now.

NextGen is not only necessary to accommodate increased levels of
commercial travel, but also to meet the growth in new types of air
travel that are taking the skies. We are expecting a surge in
traffic from a new generation aircraft called Very Light Jets
(VLJs). These high-performance jets are inexpensive and will be
able to land just about anywhere. Commercial Space is another new
market well under way that the must be accommodated in our air
transportation system.

The Administration’s NextGen Financing Reform Act, sent to
Congress in February, will provide a stable, cost-based revenue
stream to fund the transition to NextGen.

The current tax system expires September 30, however, so Congress
must act now.
---------------

1 Detroit, Cleveland, Denver, Miami, Houston, Orlando
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, St. Louis and
Atlanta.

###






On Sat, 12 May 2007 15:15:18 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote in :

So the FAA wants to remove Congressional oversight as a condition of
implementing NextGen ATC privatization. Given the current poor
performance of LocMart's AFSS privatization, hopefully Congress will
see the light.

CONGRESS TOLD FAA LACKS ROAD MAP FOR NEXTGEN

The FAA says that the current national airspace system won't be
able to handle the expected tripling of air traffic by 2025, and
there's generally no disagreement among stakeholders about the
need for ATC modernization. But it is how we get there that is the
big problem. In opening statements before a hearing Wednesday
morning on ATC modernization, House Subcommittee on Aviation
Chairman Jerry Costello, D-Ill., brought up the FAA's poor track
record of previous ATC modernization projects and promptly added
that "vigorous congressional oversight" will be needed for
NextGen. DOT Inspector General Calvin Scovel testified

(http://www.oig.dot.gov/StreamFile?fi...-508_FINAL.pdf)
that NextGen is a "high-risk effort" that will "involve
billion-dollar investments by both the government and airspace
users." During questioning, he submitted that the FAA and Joint
Planning Development Office (JPDO) need to have a detailed R&D
plan developed before Congress can properly appropriate funding
for ATC modernization.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#195171

On Fri, 04 May 2007 17:12:04 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote in :



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.