Helicopter Association International (HAI) has joined five other general aviation organizations in letters urging transportation leaders in U.S. Congress to strip a controversial proposal to privatize the nation’s air traffic control (ATC) system from a pending Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill.
The groups sent their viewpoints in letters to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR); and to Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee chairman John Thune (R-SD) and Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL).
The letters were signed by HAI president and CEO Matthew Zuccaro, National Business Aviation Association president and CEO Ed Bolen, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association president Mark Baker, Experimental Aircraft Association CEO and chairman Jack Pelton, General Aviation Manufacturers Association president and CEO Pete Bunce, and National Air Transportation Association president Marty Hiller.
“The skies over the U.S. are a national asset, and general aviation is committed to ensuring that the future funding and subsequent design of the national air transportation system will benefit all Americans,” the aviation leaders wrote.
The group leaders said the entire general aviation community, along with small airports, mayors, business leaders, and advocacy groups have come out against it — and that the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that H.R. 2997 would add nearly $100 billion to the deficit. They also noted that a recent Government Accountability Office report concluded ATC modernization is on schedule.
“The only groups to seemingly support any part of the ATC privatization proposal are the airlines,” said Zuccaro. “That makes sense, since the commercial airlines are the only aviation-related businesses that will benefit from this plan.”
