LEXIS-NEXIS® Congressional Universe-Document

LEXIS-NEXIS® Congressional

FEBRUARY 11, 1999, THURSDAY

SECTION: IN THE NEWS

LENGTH: 3205 words

HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT OF
JOHN W. OLCOTT
PRESIDENT
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION, INC.
BEFORE THE HOUSE TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE
AVIATION SUBCOMMITTEE
SUBJECT - MEETING THE NEEDS OF AIRPORTS, THE FAA
AND THE AVIATION SYSTEM

BODY:

Summary of Remarks Delivered by John W. Olcott President, National Business Aviation Association, Inc. Before the House Aviation Subcommittee Meeting the Financial Needs of Airports, the FAA and the Aviation System February 11, 1999
- Success in the 'Wear of Aviation" for NBAA Member Companies will be measured by progress in modernizing the aging air traffic control system, providing additional investment in and ensuring continued access to a strong system of airports, and improving the management and operations of the Federal Aviation Administration.
- Taking advantage of Airport and Airway Trust Fund surpluses and ensuring that future aviation revenues are linked to aviation spending will enhance safety and efficiency by providing additional funds for capital improvements to air traffic control systems and airports. These changes will better serve the FAA and restore an element of fairness to aviation taxpayers who were originally promised that their contributions would fund capital improvements.
- The general fund contribution is a critical component of the FAA's budget and must be maintained. It reflects the government's use of the air transportation system and the benefit the general public receives from a safe and efficient air transportation system. General fund revenues provide exponential returns to the American public.
- Efforts to unlock the Trust Fund must also be accompanied by a commitment to ensure continued congressional oversight of FAA spending.
- Proposals to enact a user fee system or create a new performance- based organization (PBO) to oversee air traffic control are extremely risky and divisive. The Subcommittee should quickly reject these efforts.
- User fees would bring about a series of unintended consequences that would devastate the price-sensitive general aviation community, a fact recognized by the National Civil Aviation Review Commission.
- User fees would raise serious safety issues, reduce the incentive for the FAA to operate more efficiently, create significant administrative costs and result in a system that is undercapitalized and underutilized.
- A PBO would shift significant power to certain user groups and raise safety concerns by essentially creating two FAAs with potentially conflicting missions.
- Additional revenues combined with effective management of those revenues can bring into reach Free Flight and other air traffic management technology.
- Free Flight is key to improving system safety and enhancing system capacity and efficiency. We urge the Subcommittee's support for its key components including GPS/WAAS/LAAS, ADS-B, and Data link.
- Investment in America's airports will also benefit from efforts to unlock the Trust Fund. Business aviation is extremely sensitive to the needs of the nation's airports given the fact that the aircraft our Member Companies operate reach about 5,500 airport locations, a number that is 10 times the cities and towns served by scheduled airlines and 100 times the locations with frequent schedules.
- NBAA concurs with the findings of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission that AIP should be funded at a minimum of $2 billion annually over the next five years and advocates greater investment in general aviation facilities.
- The FAA must enforce airport grant assurances protect the federal investment in airports and ensure that the national system of airports remains viable. Any proposal to weaken or eliminate such grant assurances poses a serious threat to the aviation system and should be rejected.
- Linking aviation spending to aviation revenues, ensuring the continuation of the general fund contribution and maintaining congressional oversight of the FAA budget to ensure that additional funds are spent on capital improvements hold great promise for moving us forward into the 21st Century.
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Statement of John W. Olcott President, National Business Aviation Association, Inc. Before the House Aviation Subcommittee Meeting the Financial Needs of Airports, the FAA and the Aviation System February 11, 1999
Capitalizing on the Year of Aviation
On behalf of the nearly 6,000 Member Companies of the National Business Aviation Association, Inc. and the entire business aviation community, I commend the members of this Subcommittee as well as the full Committee for your work in making this the "Year of Aviation" in Congress. Given the critical role that air transportation in all forms plays in facilitating economic growth and improving the quality of life that all Americans enjoy, it is appropriate that aviation be given priority consideration.
NBAA looks forward to continuing its leadership role in the debate as an advocate for thousands of successful companies across the country that operate general aviation aircraft as an aid to the conduct of their business or are involved with business aviation. NBAA Member Companies rely on business aviation every day to reach the literally thousands of locations across the country in which they do business. In many areas without commercial airline service, business aviation often is the only practical means by which to access a community, its people and its promise.
Success in the "Year of Aviation" for NBAA Member Companies will be measured by our progress in modernizing the aging air traffic control system, providing additional investment in and ensuring continued access to a strong system of airports, and improving the management and operations of the Federal Aviation Administration. Improvements in these areas will enhance the safety, efficiency and capacity of the nation's air transportation system, a result that will benefit the aviation community and the American public.

The Trust Fund, The General Fund and Congressional Oversight
NBAA believes that the Subcommittee is well on its way to achieving these goals through its work to "unlock" the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Taking advantage of Trust Fund surpluses and ensuring that future aviation revenues are linked to aviation spending will enhance safety and efficiency by providing additional funds for capital improvements to air traffic control systems and airports. These changes will better serve the FAA and restore an element of fairness to aviation taxpayers who originally were promised that their contributions would fund improvements to the air transportation system.
We do, however, strongly believe that your work in this regard must be accompanied by a firms commitment to maintain the general fund contribution to the aviation system. The general fund contribution is a critical component of the FAA's budget, reflecting the government's use of the air transportation system and the tremendous benefit the general public receives from a safe and efficient air transportation system. In addition, the relatively modest infusion of general fund revenues to the FAA provides exponential returns to the American public.
We have expressed our views on this issue in the past, and we appreciate the assurances of Chairman Shuster and others that the Committee is focused on maintaining a general fund contribution to the aviation system.In addition to keeping a general fund contribution, efforts to unlock the Trust Fund must be accompanied by a commitment to ensure continued congressional oversight of FAA spending. After all, additional revenue is of little use if it is diverted by the Agency from critical capital improvements.
In particular, NBAA is concerned about skyrocketing FAA operating costs. Today, desperately needed capital funds are being shifted to cover the ever-increasing expenses required to maintain today's dilapidated air traffic control system and provide budget-busting salaries. Congress must maintain a role in keeping a handle on operating expenses and ensuring that additional revenues are being spent on the critical capital needs of the air transportation system.
Our views on this issue should not be misinterpreted as a lack of faith in the outstanding leadership provided by FAA Administrator Jane Garvey. To the contrary, we are extremely impressed with Administrator Garvey's dedication and her willingness to work with the aviation community to gain a consensus on moving forward. While we have great faith in her leadership, we do believe that Congress as the representative of the American public must remain an active partner in helping shape the future of the Agency and the air transportation system.
Moving Beyond the User Fee Debate
While the debate this year in this Subcommittee is appropriately focused on how to utilize effectively the abundant revenues raised by current aviation excise taxes, there remain those who continue to advocate changing the mechanism by which aviation contributions are collected. In particular, some have called for replacing the current funding system - a combination of excise taxes and a general fund contribution - with a risky and complicated funding scheme in which system users would be charged a series of fees for system use.
Such a change would set the stage for a series of unintended consequences that would devastate the price-sensitive general aviation community, a fact recognized by the National Civil Aviation Review Commission. Consider that:
- A system in which price is placed on system use could have detrimental safety effects. Pilots could be discouraged from filing flight plans, checking the weather or contacting the tower if they are charged to do so. The current system avoids such risks.
- A user fee system would reduce, if not eliminate, the incentive for the FAA to operate more efficiently. After all, what incentive is there to change an operation that produces revenue for the Agency even if a better system exists?
- A user fee system would create significant administrative costs and headaches that could discourage growth and require new bureaucracies.
- A system funded entirely by direct users will be undercapitalized and underutilized, according to many economists.
Given the promise that the Subcommittee's efforts to unlock the Trust Fund holds and the significant risks involved with moving to a user fee system, we urge the Subcommittee to reject efforts to push for the adoption of user fees.
Rejecting a Performance-Based Organization
We likewise urge the Subcommittee to oppose the creation of any performance based organization (PBO), a new layer of bureaucracy suggested by some to be paid for in large part by user fees and whose job it would be to oversee the operations of the nation's air traffic control system. We share Congressman Oberstar's skepticism about a PBO and the power it would give to certain user groups. In addition, creating a separate organization to deal with air traffic control raises safety concerns by essentially creating two FAAs with potentially conflicting missions, a situation avoided with the current system.
Instead of rushing to implement dramatic FAA management changes such as a PBO, Congress should give the Agency time to implement fully the recently enacted personnel and procurement reforms. Administrator Garvey, the first to serve in a fixed, five-year term, has demonstrated her commitment to moving forward and already has made significant progress in gaining consensus for positive change. It is difficult to see why a PBO would provide any advantage.
In light of the intense controversy both user fee proposals and the creation of the PBO are bound to create, it is our hope that the Subcommittee will avoid these distractions and move forward with its efforts to boost investment in air traffic control modernization and America's airport infrastructure.
The Benefits of Increased Funding for Air Traffic Control Modernization Business aviation, the aviation community and the American public have a great deal to gain from the efforts of the Subcommittee to unlock all revenues raised by the current aviation excise taxes. Additional revenues combined with effective management of those revenues can bring into our reach the many exciting technologies needed to prepare the air transportation system to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century.
NBAA considers air traffic control modernization its top priority and advocates investment in the Free Flight concept developed by RTCA in cooperation with NBAA, the FAA and the entire aviation community. Free Flight is key to improving system safety and enhancing system capacity and efficiency. We urge the Subcommittee's support for its key components:
- Satellite-Based Navigation and Landing Systems - Moving from a ground-based navigation and landing system to a satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) will increase safety, efficiency and capacity and lead to the better use of limited FAA resources.
- The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and the Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) will augment the GPS signal for accuracy, integrity and continuity. A recent independent assessment by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory offers evidence that GPS/WAAS/LAAS eventually can be a sole-means system.
- Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) can provide more precise knowledge of aircraft positions based upon aircraft broadcasts.
- Loran C - Loran C should be maintained to provide a coordinate- based form of navigation until 2008. While NBAA has complete confidence that a satellite-based air traffic management system is safe and efficient, we believe that some backup navigation system is prudent. By using Loran C, the FAA will be able to phase out older, short-range navigation systems such as VORs and NDBs, which are costly to maintain.
- Data Link - Data link will dramatically improve interaction between pilots and controllers. A robust controller-pilot data link will facilitate the exchange of information regarding air traffic, weather, special use airspace, terrain data base and flight services between aircraft and ground systems. In addition, it will enhance collaborative decision-making.

- Other Support Tools for Air Traffic Management - Air traffic management will be further enhanced through the implementation of Display System Replacement, Initial Conflict Probe and the Traffic Management Advisor. These tools will aid controllers in improving the safety and efficiency of the growing National Airspace System.
- Aviation Weather Research - Weather research must continue to be pursued in order to take advantage of developing information technology.
- National Airspace Redesign - If efforts to implement Free Flight are to be successful, continued attention must be given to the National Airspace Redesign. NBAA continues to play an active role in that process through its work with the RTCA.
Additional investment in the technologies that compose Free Flight are necessary to ensure that the United States remains the world leader in air transportation with the safest, most efficient air traffic management system in the world.
The Benefits of Increased Funding for Airport Improvements
Equally important to investment in modernizing the air traffic control system is investment in America's airports. After all, airplanes are of little value without an airport at which to land. Business aviation, in particular, is sensitive to the needs of the nation's airports given the fact that the aircraft our Member Companies operate bring the ebb and flow of commerce to about 5,500 airport locations, a number that represents 10 times the cities and towns served by scheduled airlines and 100 times the locations with frequent schedules.
Most immediately, we are concerned with the impending expiration of the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) on March 31 of this year. Without action, airports face the loss of the construction season, a situation with long-term, system-wide ramifications. We appreciate the action of the Committee to help ensure that the program does not lapse.
NBAA concurs with the findings of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission that AIP should be funded at a minimum of $2 billion annually over the next five years. Healthy AIP funding will help increase the capacity at major airports and ensure that smaller, general aviation airports remain open as a critical link to communities nationwide.
Efforts should be made to shift a greater portion of AIP funds to general aviation airports, which constitute the vast majority of airports nationwide but are guaranteed only 18.5 percent of AIP funds in any given year. In most instances, AIP funds are the only viable means of funding development at general aviation facilities as Passenger Facility Charges and other sources of revenue simply are not available to anything but larger, commercial airports. As such, the AIP state apportionment should be increased to reflect the importance of these facilities and their reliance on AIP funds.
While we certainly are concerned about providing adequate funding for general aviation facilities through the Airport Improvement Program, we also wish to bring to the Subcommittee's attention our concerns regarding efforts to close airports or limit their access to the business aviation community. Your efforts to gain additional funding for airports must not be offset by efforts in other quarters to close or limit access to public airports already in operation.
One area of great concern is the FAA's lack of enforcement of airport grant assurances, the contractual obligation accompanying the receipt of AIP funds that compels an airport sponsor to keep an airport open to the public for a period of 20 years. While the FAA traditionally has defended these grant assurances, the Agency has in several recent incidents backed away from the vigorous enforcement of such agreements in the face of outside political pressure. Grant assurances protect the Federal investment in airports and ensure that the national system of airports remains viable. Any proposal to weaken or eliminate such grant assurances poses a serious threat to the aviation system and should be rejected.
In addition, efforts to erect artificial barriers to airport access must be rejected. Targeted landing fees such as peak-hour pricing, slot controls and restrictive noise rules employed to discourage additional operations run contrary to the efforts of the Subcommittee to enhance the safety and efficiency of the national airport system.
Moving Forward
In closing, I again want to commend this Subcommittee for your dedication to improving the safety, efficiency and capacity of the nation's air transportation system. There is no doubt that our efforts to prepare the aviation system for the next century will benefit greatly from your work to provide additional funding for critical air traffic control and airport improvements.
Linking aviation spending to aviation revenues, ensuring the continuation of the general fund contribution and maintaining congressional oversight of the FAA budget to ensure that additional funds are spent on capital improvements hold great promise for moving us forward. The business aviation community looks forward to working with you as the process moves to the next stages.
END

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