Posted on 06/05/2017 8:55:12 AM PDT by Rennes Templar
President announces Air Traffic Control Reform Initiative
Live video at Fox link
(Excerpt) Read more at video.foxnews.com ...
Lawyers, darned lawyers are killing the GA industry.
He needs to privatize the VA.
“[P]rivate flying ‘IS’ very expensive.” Already. And it’s not in us non-private pilots best interests to subsidize other people’s hobby.
^^^ This.
Privatize the VA? Sounds great to me.
General aviation can pay their own way and do without my dough. I’m done subsidizing people’s hobbies. We are $20T in debt (actually its more than that), and it’s time to cut spending. Get ATC off the federal books. Other countries can do it. So can we.
We certainly aren’t guaranteed victory. Charles Gordon was killed at Khartoum. The Alamo was taken.
Then again, there was Charles Martel, El Cid, etc.
Hear! Hear!
No reason for the few to subsidize others’ expensive hobbies.
Sorry, meant the expensive hobbies of the few—but you know what I mean.
$19 per use of air traffic control facilities does not seem extravagant to me.
It is not MERELY paying to watch you take off and land. It is “watching” the entire theater of air traffic control at the facility, which can at some time include warning you not to take off or not to land due to issues you are unaware off.
I would say that a private operation that cannot afford to take customers and pay the $19 should not be in business.
Regardless, others have privatized their air traffic control operations, including “socialist” Canada and it has worked out OK. Even if not perfect we can certainly learn from their experience and do better.
Oh I agree with that completely, but the FAA itself has actually been the biggest impediment to development of General Aviation. Now I must admit that the one neighbor that I have who retired from the FAA and then got his A&P and AI certificates is one of the very best people that I have ever met. If everyone in the organization was like him, we would probably have cars that could fly to the moon by now. I am sure that there are still a few like him left, but the organization itself has got some serious issues.
The leadership and culture of affirmative action and minority outreach at the FAA has turned it into another branch of the post office with employees who couldn't care less about those they are suppose to serve. And they especially could not care less about the advancement of General Aviation. My other neighbor is an example of this. He might have started out with some good intentions, but he turned into typical FAA before he started milking his "back problem". I actually feel a little sorry for him because he is ruining his own life by trying to avoid going back to work.
No one is subsidizing my “expensive hobby”. I avoid any contact with air traffic control whenever possible. I haven't filed a flight plan in over 25 years. What is amazing to me is how those who do not fly have no understanding whatsoever about what ATC actually does. General Aviation pilots have zero need for ATC except when they fly into or around airports that the big boys fly into. Do you think that a small plane flying out in the middle of no-where has any desire or need to talk to ATC? ATC is oriented to the needs of the airlines these days and those training to become pilots for the airlines.
This is the big worry for all those in Gen-Av, especially in their media, go to www.aero-news.net to hear Jim "Zoom" Campbell opine...
Here is the cliff notes bullet version from where I sit, ya I got my ticket, no I am not current, but I did fly with one of my buds this past weekend.
* No we are not wealthy playboys.
* The Gen-Av fuel tax system if you look close and how the money is properly divvy'd up is probably the greatest example of why we should have a flat tax, expect the dominant media to gloss over it.
* Oh Britain and "X" did it yada, yada, yada. That is why everyone sends their pilots to be to Flight Safety, they killed Gen-Av in their countries, I know 3 from England,Scotland,Wales that left and became citizens here just to fly.
* Gen Av is hurting we are so gentrified it isn't funny. So the feeder system is in jeopardy. The field I hang at lost it's FBO/Flight School and the place looks like a ghost town. I am sure the real estate vultures would love to snag it, however special circumstances prevent that.
* My Airline Pilot gnome tells me of an impending Pilot Shortage something like 20,000(?) short in 5 years. To the point the various branches of our Military are offering six digit retainer bonuses so their pilots don't leave for the Majors.
* So ya think still we are playboys? Tell that to your wife in 5 yrs when you can't get a flight because of no pilots.
Tangent to this...
* Training aircraft are costly.
* Electric powered could help with the fuel cost, but the price point of the candidates in that space are quiet high, a big note to carry, and they are not ready yet.
* A low parts count ( Think Republic Seabee RC-3 ) type aircraft is needed IMHO to try to get the cost down, their are other designs I think fit the bill, but I'll let it go.
* The possible re-write of FAR 23 to get the FAA new designs some reprieve from over-regs during certification in needed ASAP.
Go w/ a 501(c)(3) system, get the House and Senate out of the funding etc start their, total privatization might be the end of Gen-Av, unless a carve out to protect them is in this. A healthy Gen-Av system is a mirror of Liberty IMHO, the more Liberty the more Gen-Av.
Just my 2 cents...
Privatizing the air traffic control system is like privatizing the sewer system. There is no alternative and alternatives are forbidden. The difference between privatizing the ATC and the VA medical system is that there are a lot of potential simultaneous suppliers for medical care, even so much that a veteran could leave one supplier and go to another should service be lacking.
The essential value in privatizing any government function is “price discovery”, which by its very nature requires the open market and unfettered access to customers.
Both the VA and ATC share a similar question: who is the customer who must have a choice? In the case of the VA, government could open up bidding on providing a pool of veterans medical care. Then the customer would be the government and the veterans would not be allowed to choose. We can all see how that would end.
A few years ago the FAA put Flight Service Station operations out for contract. It appears to have worked well and saved money. But in that case, the customer was the government.
As the law currently reads, the FAA has two missions: to advance aviation and to regulate for safety and efficiency. If user-fees are too high, they will at least cripple general aviation just like it has been done in the UK and in Europe.
That was $19 to supervise one takeoff and $19 to supervise one landing. The aircraft that I operate is kept at a nearby municipal airport that does not have any resident management. I have a key to the main gain. Many times while flying a night, I have been totally alone for the entire duration. I don’t need any ATC services there. I can take off without any help, thank you. Same for landings.
The overall cost of flying reflects both the initial and the ongoing regulatory and compliance burden. I burn far less than $38 of fuel to do one take off and landing and yet that is the cost of the local tower should I do that there.
We can never know how low the cost of ATC services could go because the government will not allow anyone to seriously try to find out.
Would you pay $38 to have someone tell you where to park at Walmart and how to access your assigned spot?
Actually, general aviation does pay their own way, and if I flet like doing the research, I’d say a disproportionate share. Fuel Tax. That’s why aviation fuel (Jet A) averages about $4.00 a gallon. The money goes into the Aviation Trust Fund. There are , or used to be, 100’s of billions of dollars there.
GA also pays landing fees, handling fees, and parking fees at each airport (based on the size of the aircraft).
GA charter, at the larger airports also pays a percentage of their gross to the airport, like a store at the mall.
The problem is, while the ATC system is a good system, the government treats the Trust Fund money like they do Social Security, i.e. they spend it on entitlements and the fund is basically IOUs, now.
There are some “private” towers in operation at low volume airports and I can tell you the difference of the skill level (not to disparge them) is noticable.
You’re not. The user is already paying for the service via fuel tax.
And we’re not talking hobbyists. Much of today’s business gets done because of corporate aircraft. GA is not just Cessna 172s. Check out NetJets, FlexJet, and the plethora of other fractionals.
I’m all in for the President’s agenda. I just think there are other priorities he could be spending his energy on, like getting the promised tax cuts, the promised repeal of Obamacare, and building the wall, and draining the swamp.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.