AOPA seeks all avenues to prevent permanent ADIZ
 The Washington, D.C., ADIZ with Flight Restricted Zone (Illustration by John MacNeill) |
AOPA is working all the ADIZ angles, heading down every avenue to prevent the 3,000-square-mile Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) around the Washington-Baltimore area from becoming permanent.
Last week, for example, AOPA met again with the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy to brief that agency on the economic impact of the flight restrictions on business inside the ADIZ.
"That's something the FAA did not calculate, claiming they couldn't get the data," said Rob Hackman, AOPA manager of regulatory and certification policy. "The FAA looked at just two small airports. AOPA gathered the data from 13 airports within the ADIZ and 20 other airports near the ADIZ."
And even though the FAA couldn't find it, AOPA did discover a significant impact - more than $43 million a year in lost wages and local spending and taxes.
"We wanted the SBA to be well aware of the FAA's failure to measure the true economic impact of the ADIZ rule, which they are required to do by law," said Hackman. "And we've asked the SBA, through its Aviation Safety Roundtable, which is the federal advocate for small businesses like FBOs, to submit comments on the ADIZ."
And there is still time for you to tell the federal government what you think about the ADIZ. The comment deadline is February 6. See AOPA's Member Action Center: Operation ADIZ for more information.
The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy takes its direction from small businesses. It hosts roundtables to receive input on what issues are of greatest importance. These roundtables are open to any aviation small business representative and are held quarterly.
January 27, 2006
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