Of Camels And Tents

hile I don’t like to pay more for flying than I currently do, nor do I want see the U.S. kill general aviation through predatory user fees like in Europe and elsewhere, we need to be more open-minded about user fees. And I would like to provide a differing perspective to user fees, specifically regarding the FAA’s incremental ATC costs to support the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) AirVenture.A few years ago, the FAA paid millions of dollars for a great-looking control tower at OSH—was it really needed? Let’s agree it was a good investment of public funds to support the one week of AirVenture. Most of the year, the traffic count at OSH is very low and the old tower did just fine. And let’s consider that cost as part of ATC infrastructure costs. That is why I’m focusing on incremental costs, not total costs.

Editorial Staff

Friday, August 23, 2013 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The author argues that general taxpayers should not subsidize the FAA's incremental Air Traffic Control (ATC) costs incurred by large general aviation events like EAA AirVenture.
Events such as AirVenture, which generate millions in revenue, should be responsible for covering the increased service costs they demand, rather than expecting public subsidy.
Failing to pay for these incremental costs perpetuates a negative public perception of general aviation pilots as entitled individuals expecting others to fund their activities.
Proposed solutions include the EAA paying for these costs from AirVenture's substantial profits or pilots attending the event paying a specific ATC fee.

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While I don’t like to pay more for flying than I currently do, nor do I want see the U.S. kill general aviation through predatory user fees like in Europe and elsewhere, we need to be more open-minded about user fees. And I would like to provide a differing perspective to user fees, specifically regarding the FAA’s incremental ATC costs to support the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) AirVenture.

A few years ago, the FAA paid millions of dollars for a great-looking control tower at OSH—was it really needed? Let’s agree it was a good investment of public funds to support the one week of AirVenture. Most of the year, the traffic count at OSH is very low and the old tower did just fine. And let’s consider that cost as part of ATC infrastructure costs. That is why I’m focusing on incremental costs, not total costs.