LEXIS-NEXIS® Congressional Universe-Document

LEXIS-NEXIS® Congressional

JUNE 9, 1999, WEDNESDAY

SECTION: IN THE NEWS

LENGTH: 1228 words

HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT OF
PETE WEST
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION, INC.
BEFORE THE HOUSE TRANSPORTATION AND IFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE
AVIATION SUBCOMMITTEE
SUBJECT - THE PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION
OF GENERAL AVIATION AIRPORTS

BODY:

Introduction
Mr. Chairman, general aviation airports are the lifeblood of business aviation, allowing companies to reach literally thousands of locations across the country each and every day. These facilities enable the nearly 6,000 Member Companies of the National Business Aviation Association to succeed at business, and they provide many communities with a vital link to regional, national and global economies. As I'm sure each Member of this Subcommittee knows from visiting with local officials, business representatives and employees throughout your districts, general aviation airports help create jobs and economic opportunities. Unfortunately, general aviation airports haven't always received the attention they merit. The General Accounting Office has highlighted the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to protect these facilities through the vigorous enforcement of requirements that accompany the receipt of Federal funds. The GAO also has noted that general aviation airports face serious shortfalls in meeting planned development. Clearly, efforts must be made to boost investment in these critical transportation assets and to ensure that those investments are sufficiently protected.
This Subcommittee has long been focused on making sure those goals are met. Your continued commitment to general aviation airports is evident from this hearing, from the hearing you held in Wichita, Kansas, earlier this year, and from the legislation you have developed to ensure that money raised by aviation taxes is dedicated to meeting critical aviation needs, including the improvement of general aviation airports. NBAA is fully supportive of your efforts, and we will continue to work with you to help pass H.R. 1000 into law and to protect the public's investment in general aviation facilities.
We remain hopeful that the FAA will become a more active partner in working to protect general aviation airports and maintain the integrity of the national system of airports. In addition to addressing the land use issues highlighted in the May 1999 GAO report, the Agency must do a better job in working to keep general aviation airports open to the public and fully operational. Far too often, the FAA has failed in this regard, choosing to let others make decisions concerning the use of these facilities.
In the end, Mr. Chairman, the efforts of this Subcommittee to increase the investment in general aviation must be coupled with a commitment from the FAA to do its job in protecting all parts of the national system of airports. After all, additional investment will mean very little to an airport that is closed or has its access severely limited.
Why Are General Aviation Airports Important to Business Aviation?
As the most active users of general aviation for business purposes, NBAA Member Companies know firsthand both the importance of general aviation airports and their needs. For a better picture of why these issues are absolutely critical to the business aviation community, please refer to the attached map, which highlights the approximately 3,500 airports in the lower 48 states with hard surface runways over 3,000 feet in length. Nearly 90 percent of them mostly general aviation airports located in rural America are accessible only via general aviation aircraft. Each airport is a gateway to a community, its people and its promise.
The Importance of Additional Investment in General Aviation Airports
The future of many of these facilities depends on continued Federal investment through the Airport Improvement Program. General aviation airports typically do not have access to Passenger Facility Charges, airport bonds or other sources of revenue, leaving AIP funds as the key source of funding airport improvements.
We applaud the work of the Aviation Subcommittee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to provide additional resources for general aviation airports. Your efforts to unlock the Airport and Airway Trust Fund and ensure the continuation of the appropriate General Fund contribution to the FAA will prove extremely beneficial to general aviation airports and to the aviation system as a whole.
We also want to commend the Subcommittee in particular for increasing the state entitlement under AIP to 20 percent, creating an entitlement for general aviation airports and giving priority for funding runway extension projects at general aviation airports. These changes will go a long way toward improving general aviation facilities and the utility of business aviation to companies and communities across the country.
The Importance of Ensuring Continued Access to General Aviation Airports
It is our hope, Mr. Chairman, that your efforts to gain additional funding will not be mitigated by the situations of waste and abuse at general aviation airports outlined by the GAO in their recent report. In addition to addressing the land use issues identified there, the FAA must take great care to enforce 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. Grant assurances protect the Federal investment in airports and ensure that the national system of airports remains viable.
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 pressure. Consider Richards-Gebaur Memorial Airport in Kansas City, Missouri, where the FAA approved plans to close the airport despite the existence of a contractual obligation to operate the airport until 2016. In this case, the FAA failed to protect the public's investment in the airport and a valuable link in the nation's air transportation system.
To offer an analogy of the situation, Mr. Chairman, I urge you to imagine driving on the interstate and finding that the exit you had planned to use to get to your next Town Hall meeting was closed because some residents didn't like cars or felt that the road could better be used for other purposes. When airports close, that's essentially the situation in which we find ourselves. Businesses unable to reach their markets and communities unable to easily access the global economy. Mr. Chairman, what NBAA Member Companies want from the FAA and what most general aviation concerns want is for the Agency to do a better job of serving as a protector of taxpayer dollars and a guardian of the national aviation system. Taken individually, incidents of unauthorized land use or airport closings may not seem terribly important, but collectively they have the effect of seriously weakening our aviation system. The FAA has an obligation to ensure that the national interest doesn't take a back seat to local political whims.
Conclusion
In closing, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you again for your continued interest in general aviation and for the Subcommittee's oversight in ensuring that the FAA protects aviation taxpayer interests. The future of business aviation is inextricably linked to the well-being of general aviation airports. Increasing investment in these facilities and gaining a renewed commitment from the FAA to protect and preserve them will help guarantee a bright future for both.
END

LOAD-DATE: June 16, 1999