General aviation airports are in for a rough time next year if the Bush administration gets its way.
"The White House is proposing to cut nearly $1 billion from the Airport Improvement Program in 2007 compared to the amount established by Congress, and almost all of that would come from monies earmarked for GA airports," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "Congress must not allow this to happen."
Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta released the Department of Transportation's budget earlier this week, which includes $13.7 billion for the FAA.
DOT claims that the reduced amount for airports is "still robust by historical standards" and that all major runway projects would be completed.
"There's more to the system than runways at air carrier airports," said Boyer. "And Congress, when it authorized spending up to $3.7 billion for airports, decided what is 'robust.' This proposal isn't anywhere close to 'robust.'"
Under the somewhat arcane funding formulas, when AIP funding drops below $3.2 billion (the administration is proposing $2.75 billion for next year), all "entitlements" for GA airports are eliminated. That means almost all of the money would go to big airports.
The money the administration proposes to "save" by cutting airport funding would be used to help pay for air traffic control operations. But the typical general aviation pilot is only a marginal consumer of ATC services; some 90 percent of GA flights are flown in VFR conditions.
Once again, the administration is claiming poverty when it comes to the FAA because the funding system is allegedly broken.
"There is general agreement that our growing aviation system needs a more stable and predictable revenue stream that creates a more direct relationship between revenues collected and services provided," Mineta said.
"As the representative of more than 407,000 pilots, we definitely do not concur with that statement," said Boyer (below, right). "There's no 'general agreement' from our side — especially for any proposal that includes user fees."
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"The White House is proposing to cut nearly $1 billion from the Airport Improvement Program in 2007 compared to the amount established by Congress, and almost all of that would come from monies earmarked for GA airports," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "Congress must not allow this to happen."
Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta released the Department of Transportation's budget earlier this week, which includes $13.7 billion for the FAA.
DOT claims that the reduced amount for airports is "still robust by historical standards" and that all major runway projects would be completed.
"There's more to the system than runways at air carrier airports," said Boyer. "And Congress, when it authorized spending up to $3.7 billion for airports, decided what is 'robust.' This proposal isn't anywhere close to 'robust.'"
Under the somewhat arcane funding formulas, when AIP funding drops below $3.2 billion (the administration is proposing $2.75 billion for next year), all "entitlements" for GA airports are eliminated. That means almost all of the money would go to big airports.
The money the administration proposes to "save" by cutting airport funding would be used to help pay for air traffic control operations. But the typical general aviation pilot is only a marginal consumer of ATC services; some 90 percent of GA flights are flown in VFR conditions.
Once again, the administration is claiming poverty when it comes to the FAA because the funding system is allegedly broken.
"There is general agreement that our growing aviation system needs a more stable and predictable revenue stream that creates a more direct relationship between revenues collected and services provided," Mineta said.
"As the representative of more than 407,000 pilots, we definitely do not concur with that statement," said Boyer (below, right). "There's no 'general agreement' from our side — especially for any proposal that includes user fees."
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