President's Perspective

Let AOPA do the heavy lifting

As a student pilot, you've joined the ranks of a small and special group--there are fewer than 600,000 active pilots in the United States. Learning to fly is an experience that pilots will remember for a lifetime. I vividly recall my own days as a student pilot. Two areas that consistently give students grief, then and now, are radio communications and crosswind landings. I was fortunate that because of my broadcasting background, talking on the aircraft radio came easily for me--but that did not give me a leg up on the crosswind landings.

As president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, I want to make sure that you know about some of the very important work AOPA does on your behalf. Each year, your association is involved in countless issues relating to regulation and government policy. While few of them have anything to do with your physical flying skills, some have the potential to negatively affect your flying. Let's look at two of them.

The first is the service meltdown in the flight service station (FSS) system. If you're at the point in your training that you're obtaining your own weather briefings, you may have experienced problems with long hold times, dropped calls, briefers not familiar with the flight plan area, or lost flight plans. Believe me, in my own flying, I've experienced them all.

How did the system get so broken? Despite excellent people, the old flight service station system was technologically obsolete, grossly inefficient, and costly. After a lengthy study, the FAA determined that contracting out flight service would be in the best interests of the users, the government, and the taxpayers. AOPA supported that decision, and Lockheed Martin won the competitive bid. Initially, service was better after Lockheed Martin took over the FAA's old system; calls were answered more quickly, and fewer calls were dropped. When it came time to modernize, it really fell apart.

At the end of April, Lockheed Martin declared its three new, modern flight service hubs operational and began aggressively consolidating the old FAA stations at the rate of three a week. When demand increased, the system collapsed. Because parts of the new system weren't operational, briefers had to use both the new and old systems to give a complete briefing. Computers in the new hubs couldn't talk to all of the FAA's computers, so flight plans weren't processed. Many pilots ended up with briefers unfamiliar with the local area. In retrospect, it's clear that Lockheed Martin went live with a system that wasn't ready for prime time.

AOPA has met numerous times with Lockheed Martin and FAA officials to press for improvements. It appears that some of the problems resulted from a lack of government oversight, and, after much AOPA and congressional prompting, things appear to be improving. Despite the problems, the new system has all the potential to provide pilots with much better service, at a much lower cost--and we will see that the FAA and Lockheed Martin make that potential a reality.

The second--and much greater--challenge for us in general aviation is the new FAA funding bill currently before Congress. You may see references to this in the general media and elsewhere. Unfortunately, much of the "information" out there is incorrect and misleading.

The administration's proposal includes both significant tax increases and user fees (see "President's Perspective: The Danger of User Fees," March AOPA Flight Training and "President's Perspective: The cost of a latte," June AOPA Flight Training). Even more troubling than the shifting of costs to general aviation users is the fact that the proposal would transfer oversight of the air traffic control system from the U.S. Congress to the airlines themselves. For all the problems that lack of oversight has caused with the FSS system, those difficulties would be miniscule compared to what we could see if the air traffic control system runs amok.

Some of the proposed user fees seem small, but the bill makes it easy for bureaucrats and an airline-dominated board to make increases--and Congress is locked out of the process. I know what even a few dollars means when you're struggling to pay your bills, raise your family, and learn to fly on an average American's salary; I financed my primary flight training on my credit cards. When costs go up, even a little, your flying hours go down.

AOPA has created a special Web page to keep pilots informed of the facts about FAA funding. Let us handle the heavy lifting on issues like this, so that you can focus on your training. Eventually, we may need your help--and if we do we will ask you to write key legislators or take another appropriate step. To do so effectively, however, you need to be informed.

We're already seeing improvements in the quality of FSS briefings, and I am optimistic that working together, we can find an FAA funding solution that doesn't unfairly burden general aviation--or your flying budget.

To learn more about FAA funding and stay informed, see AOPA Online.