Plane Conversations

The U.S. Senate finally got down to business and did something constructive!

Monday, they passed a reauthorization bill for the FAA that includes funding for the NextGen air traffic control system.

The great news for General Aviation is that there are no user fees in this bill. The Federal Excise Tax for fuel goes up, but we can live with that – especially if we get something for it.

This has been a long battle to fund the system without implementing user fees; but, it looks like for at least the next year or two we can take a breather. Hopefully, those user fees don’t get brought up again.  The possibility exists, though; so, we will have to be vigilant.

Included in the bill are provisions for changing training and pilot qualifications for the regional airlines prompted by the Colgan Air crash last year.

An article posted on Tuesday, 23 March 2010, by Charles Spence, Washington, D.C. correspondent for General Aviation News, says the following:

Both the Senate and House bills were passed without user fees, but the Senate version raises the fuel tax from 22 to 38 cents per gallon to help fund modernization of the aviation system. The Senate bill passed by a vote of 93 to 0.

Craig Fuller, president and CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), said that the final bill will give the FAA “the long-term support it needs to move forward with the crucial work of modernizing our air traffic control system, preserving our network of airports and maintaining the safest air transportation system in the world.”

Speaking for the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), James Coyne, president, expressed thanks to the Senate for approving a bill devoid of user fees but that provides a fair jet fuel tax increase.

Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), welcomed passage of the bill “to fund the FAA and continue transformation to a Next Generation Air Traffic Control — NextGen — aviation system.” He added that the NBAA and other general aviation organizations have been strong advocates for proposals to modernize the nation’s aviation system and that passage of the reauthorization is a good step in that direction.

Pete Bunce, president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), echoed those comments, saying that his association was pleased with passage of the bill, which takes a number of critical steps needed for the acceleration of NextGen.

No user fees and a $.16 per gallon increase in the fuel tax (under the Senate version) is something we can all live with. The Senate’s passage, with its vote of 93 to 0 is amazing in itself.  It’s amazing that all parties in D.C. can agree on anything these days.

Conspicuously absent from the comments of the various groups representing aviation interests are comments by the ATA, which represents the airline industry.

Will the airlines applaud this bill as well?  

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During the past three years, Corporate Flight Management and the business aviation community in general have been locked in a legislative struggle with the Air Transport Association. At issue: Which group of users will bear the primary burden for funding development and ongoing operations of the NextGen air traffic control system?

At Corporate Flight our strategy has included several visits to Tennessee’s congressional delegation and working with customers and vendors to build grassroots support for our industry’s position. We do not want to be burdened with more than our fair share of the funding. Of course ATA was equally determined in their efforts to portray business aviation as “fat cats” freeloading off airline passengers and snarling air traffic.

Having grown up around politics and worked in it, I understand the value of advocacy for one’s chosen side or issue. However, in some cases seeing an issue from one side to the exclusion of the greater public good often degrades both sides. In this case, FAA funding was locked in continuing resolutions which, depending on whom you believe, slowed development on much needed ATC upgrades.

In the heat of battle lobbying becomes a rhetorical state of war.

And then there is General Electric’s approach.

The title of this post is also General Electric’s current tagline. It could also refer to the corporation’s innovative approach to legislative advocacy. The Wall Street Journal profiled this strategy in an article titled, “How General Electric Engineered Its Presence on Capitol Hill.” An excerpt follows:

“Many companies have offices in Washington D.C. for lobbying purposes, have employee-funded political-action committees to donate and influence politicians and belong to industry trade associations that lobby for their interests. General Electric Co., in recent years, has developed another way of engaging its business units with policy makers in Washington and other global capitols. It helps explain how President Barrack Obama has become GE’s customer in chief.

With a program called “Growth and Government” that started in the late 1990s and was more formalized around 2003, the company moved government policy experts into its largest business units to school GE executives on how to align GE goals with national goals. “It was actually, first and foremost, about getting ‘policy’ talent in headquarters to work on strategy with business people, not more government relations people in capitols to work with public officials,” said Ben Heineman, former general counsel at GE, who crafted the initiative. “The fundamental idea was that government actions impacted GE businesses in a major way and that this needed to be understood when businesses were working on their annual or three-year business strategies.”

In a quote later in the article, Alex Brill, CEO of political consulting firm Matrix Global Advisors LLC and formerly a policy director and chief economist to the House Ways and Means Committee said that “they (GE) become a reliable source of good information,” says Mr. Brill. “They can become a source people are dependent on for good information.” (WSJ, November 16, 2009.)

Make no mistake; GE is a powerful multinational corporation. They are quite willing to protect their interests through any means possible.

By choosing to build a reputation as “a source people (i.e. Congress, press) are dependent on for good information,” they have placed themselves above the fray, aligned with the common good.

It is, more often than not, the winning position.

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