Once again the White House’s annual budget proposal calls for a $100 per-flight user fee on certain general aviation aircraft. While talk of user fees used to send chills through the industry, this time around the reaction has been one of confident resolve rather than fear. Here’s what’s changed.
In the last few years the aviation alphabet groups have done an incredible job marshaling support for general aviation on Capitol Hill through the creation of bipartisan aviation caucuses. As a result of their efforts, 223 members of the House of Representatives – a majority of Congress – sent a resounding message to President Obama last week opposing user fees, urging him in a letter to “abandon this idea once and for all.” The White House’s push for aviation user fees continues, but the plan appears to have little chance of passing.
