AOPA Action: AOPA continues support of fuels initiative
AOPA participates in the PAFI program as a member of the PAFI Steering Group, and supports the ultimate goal of approving a high-octane, unleaded avgas that will be “environmentally safer than leaded fuels, yet as operationally safe as leaded fuels in the current fleet of piston-engine aircraft.”
In October 2018, the FAA had forecast a completion-of-testing target date of mid-2020. The timeline estimate was based on testing a fuel under development by Shell—now the lone participant in the PAFI process after another entrant, Swift Fuels, withdrew. At the outset of the PAFI process in 2014, 17 fuels had been submitted for analysis, which the program “screened down” after a rigorous evaluation process. The FAA update noted that “the FAA and industry members of the PAFI Steering Group continue to work with multiple fuel offerors to find the very best unleaded avgas solution for the GA fleet.” It said its determination to find an environmentally friendly fuel has not wavered, “regardless of the amount of time and effort it may take to achieve.”
Fee fiasco averted
AOPA’s advocacy efforts save a flight school
Pilots, instructors, and airport staff at Oakland International Airport breathed a sigh of relief after a recent decision exempted Oakland Flyers, the airport’s lone flight school, from a proposed $47 landing fee.
AOPA worked closely with local advocates to help educate port staff of the consequences for student pilots, the flight school, and the aviation industry itself should the fee be enacted. In a letter, AOPA urged the Board of Port Commissioners to waive the landing fee, stating the importance of flight schools to the community and the aviation industry.
“As is typical for flight schools across the United States, the flight school at OAK already pays rent and fuel flowage fees on thousands of gallons of fuel each year to the port. Since a flight school is already paying the airport sponsor for use of the airport, it is standard practice to exempt flight schools from any landing fees. Collection of a $47.18 landing fee for every operation would quickly drive any flight school out of business,” AOPA wrote.
With an estimated 20 student landings each day, or around 7,300 per year, Oakland Flyers would be subject to $350,000 at the minimum landing fee rate, which would make training at Oakland International nearly impossible financially.
FAA notes compliance exceptions for ADS-B airspace
The FAA has issued a policy statement that explains circumstances when operators of aircraft equipped to comply with the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out mandate that takes effect January 2, 2020, will avoid enforcement for technical failures “outside their control.” Operators who encounter GPS interference—a focus of AOPA advocacy efforts to mitigate the flight-safety risk—would not be held responsible for a GPS performance failure resulting in noncompliance.
The policy statement does not offer blanket absolution for failing to comply with ADS-B equipage and performance requirements. To be considered not responsible for a degradation of GPS performance that violates the ADS-B rule, the aircraft operator must have “exercised appropriate due diligence prior to conducting an operation.”
Action in the states
AOPA objects to installation in Alaska
A restricted area proposed near Clear Air Force Station in Anderson, Alaska, to support a high-intensity radar installation would create a hazardous disruption of aviation along critical routes, AOPA said in a letter to the Missile Defense Agency.
AOPA registered objections and possible solutions in comments on the agency’s plans to prepare an environmental impact statement on constructing a Long Range Discrimination Radar facility at Clear and expand its existing adjacent special-use airspace.
The agency “must work with aviation stakeholders to modify the restricted area to ensure civil aviation can continue transiting the Parks Highway and Nenana River, and continue utilizing Clear Airport, Clear Sky Lodge Airport, and the frontier airstrips,” AOPA said.
Massachusetts bill should be rejected, AOPA says
AOPA is urging a Massachusetts legislative committee to reject a bill that would allow local communities to add up to five cents per gallon to state fuel taxes, including avgas.
In a letter to the Joint Committee on Revenue, AOPA Eastern Region Manager Sean Collins pointed out that federal grant obligations require that taxes collected on aviation fuel be used exclusively to support the aviation system and airport infrastructure. AOPA has recommended that the committee reject the bill, or amend it “to explicitly exclude aviation gasoline,” Collins wrote.
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