There is a tempest brewing in the Washington tea cup. Congress has to pass a bill that provides funding for the FAA by the end of September or the FAA ceases to exist.
Background
The airlines and the FAA are pushing hard to reduce the costs imposed on airlines while increasing the costs for pretty much everything else that flies: medical flights (both air ambulance and time-critical transportation of organs, blood supplies, etc.), traffic helicopters, air-taxi flights serving regional airports, agricultural flights (crop dusting), pilot training, charitable flights, etc. Other than the airlines and the FAA, pretty much everybody else wants to keep the funding system unchanged.
Interestingly, the existing fuel taxes and airline passenger ticket fees actually provide more money than the proposed user-fee based system.
Safety
There are significant safety issues here which are getting lost in all of the arguments about money. The air traffic control (ATC) system exists to make flying safer, much like traffic lights and street lights and lines painted on highways make driving safer. Right now, all airplanes pay for the system “up front” in fuel taxes. Under the proposed system, airplanes would pay for the ATC system when they use it. This will force pilots to consider financial costs when making safety decisions. And this is very bad because most people are thrifty and most will try to save a few dollars when they can, even though doing so will make flying more risky.
Let me give you three real situations to consider. We know that these safety-related consequences do arise because user fees, such as the airlines and the FAA are proposing, are already in place throughout Europe and we can see how pilots there behave. I will pose each scenario and then bring it down to a personal level.
- To oversimplify a bit, ATC helps keep airplanes from bumping into each other. Since there is no additional cost to participate in the ATC system, many pilots choose to do so even when the regulations say that it is optional. By doing so, the pilot has his own eyes watching for traffic and the assistance of a radar controller. If I voluntarily call up ATC and get “flight following” and get near another plane, it means that the controller can advise both the other pilot and me to watch for the other. Two sets of eyes are always better than one. Under the proposed system, each use of ATC will cost money. How often would a pilot decide to skip the optional ATC service?
- Weather has a huge impact on flight. Airplanes need to avoid thunderstorms, freezing rain, etc. Right now, the US government provides free weather briefings both on the internet and by telephone. Pilots can get a weather expert on the phone whenever required to help interpret the forecasts and expected conditions along the route of a flight. Since there are no additional fees to use these services, most pilots use them often, sometimes several times a day, when planning a flight. In Europe, for instance, weather briefings cost several dollars per minute and even internet weather is not free. There are times of year when I would hate to be in a position of having to choose between using weather data that is an hour old or getting a quick update before launching into the sky.
- Pilots work hard to maintain their proficiency. Virtually every pilot makes many flights with the primary purpose of staying sharp, practicing safety-related skills. That is pretty easy to do since we “only” have to pay for the costs of operating the airplane. The FAA’s proposed new funding system, however, would raise fuel taxes $0.50 per gallon and would almost certainly imply fees for every landing. That definitely puts an evening practice flight in a new light.
Let me put real dollars on three specific items. How would your decision making be affected by price tags such as these?
Weather Briefing Services
- Germany charges $1.50 per minute for a weather briefing and $105 annually for Internet access to weather information
- In the United Kingdom, it costs almost $30 per “live voice consultation,” plus an additional $5.31 for each forecast product used
- In Austria, the average 10-minute briefing costs $22.20
- The Philippines charges $9.50 for the preflight package, including the mandatory flight plan filing charges.
Landing Fees
- The Netherlands charges $10 – $50 for a Cessna 172 to land
- Austria charges $70 for a general aviation aircraft to land, $5 for a shuttle ride from the aircraft to the terminal, and $12 for a security screening to return to the aircraft after refueling
Increased Fuel Taxes
- The proposed new fuel taxes add $0.50 per gallon to aviation fuel. For me, that would add about $1,000 per year to my flying costs and I fly a small plane that is reasonably fuel efficient.
Charity
Finally, consider the charitable flights of organizations such as Angel Flight. I have, for instance, donated flights so that a mother in Kansas could have eye surgery to avoid blindness, and donated flights so that a boy in Maine could get to a kidney center in Boston. How many fewer flights like these would happen if the costs increase significantly?
Take Action
Our US aviation system is the largest and safest in the world. You can help keep it that way. If you like seeing things in the sky other than jet airliners, please help us retain a fair and equitable funding system for the FAA.
Contact your elected representative and tell them that the FAA funding debate concerns you. Tell them that safety is paramount and that you do not want a fee structure which could compromise safety. Tell them that we do not need another government bureaucracy to collect less money in user fees than is now collected without effort in fuel taxes.
If you want to know more about this issue, two excellent resources are the Alliance for Aviation Across America and AOPA’s section on the FAA funding debate.
