FAA Funding Debate - Airlines' Arguments
AOPA FAA Funding Debate
The airlines' arguments
Like the FAA, the airlines have proposed user fees as a way to give them increased control of the air traffic system while lowering their out-of-pocket costs. As with other arguments for user fees, the airlines' claims just don't stand up to the facts.
- FICTION: The airlines pay too much.
- FACT: It's the passengers, not the airlines, who pay through an excise tax shown as a separate line item when they purchase their tickets.
- FICTION: The airlines use 69 percent of the air traffic control (ATC) system but pay 90 percent of the cost.
- FACT: Major system costs are driven by the peak demands of the airlines' hub-and-spoke, rush-hour operations, not individual general aviation flights. Learn more >>
- FICTION: Private business (the airlines) can do a better job overseeing the ATC system than Congress can.
- FACT: Under Congress' leadership, the U.S. ATC system has developed into the safest, most efficient in the world, while in recent years the airlines have demonstrated that they can't run their own businesses. Learn more >>