AirVenture ATC Fees

In July’s issue, I discussed the FAA’s demand that the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) cover controllers’ travel, per diem and overtime costs to provide ATC services at this year’s AirVenture fly-in. Subsequently, the EAA agreed to pay the agency some $447,000. (Full disclosure: EAA compensates me to work as a freelancer on the show’s daily newspaper during AirVenture.) There are a lot of opinions on this topic, ranging from, “They can have ATC fees when they pry them from my cold, dead hands,” to the more thoughtful one on the opposite page.

Key Takeaways:

• The FAA demanded that the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) pay $447,000 to cover air traffic control (ATC) services for its AirVenture fly-in, a demand the EAA ultimately met under protest.
• The author and EAA criticize the FAA's action as unprecedented, untimely (notifying EAA only in May), and inappropriate, especially given that Congress had exempted the FAA from budget cuts to ensure ATC services and had recently outlawed user fees for ATC.
• The EAA is challenging these fees in court, arguing they are procedurally improper and substantively unlawful, as the FAA defied congressional directives and established funding mechanisms by levying user fees.

Key takeaways sponsored by Aviator Pro | Start Your Training ->

See a mistake? Contact us.