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Funding Debate Bullet Items
- The U.S. air transportation system is the safest, most efficient,
and largest in the world, effectively handling more traffic over a larger
area than any other country.
- The aviation trust fund—the primary source of FAA funding today—is
growing and will continue to grow in the future. It is not running out
of money.
- The mechanisms now in place to collect excise taxes to support aviation
work efficiently; creating a new system would require expensive new
infrastructure.
- As elected representatives of the American people, Congress has a
vital role as the "board of directors" for the FAA, providing
budget and management oversight.
- Because a strong aviation system benefits every American, all taxpayers
should help pay for it in the form of a general fund contribution.
- Cost cutting and air traffic control modernization are not mutually
exclusive. The FAA can do both.
- This isn't about blips, or funding, or whether individual pilots pay
enough. It's about creating a radical new way to pay for government
safety services and turning control of safety over to private industry.
It's about cost, safety, and freedom. It's about preserving general
aviation and the freedom of average citizens to fly for business and
pleasure.
- Only the United States has an air transportation network with an
airport in nearly every community. We have more airports (5,400 public-use
airports / 18,000 landing facilities) than any other country—nearly
four times more than second-place Brazil.
- The airlines serve only 540 of those airports, with most airline
flights going between just 30 hub airports.
- General aviation makes up only approximately 4% of total traffic
at the 30 hub airports.
- The United States has more general aviation aircraft than the rest
of the world combined. In fact, 68 percent of the world's GA aircraft
are based and flown in the United States.
- U.S. air traffic controllers are the most efficient in the world,
performing more operations per controller at a lower cost per operation
than their counterparts elsewhere.
- The U.S. aviation industry is worth $190 billion and generates a foreign
trade surplus for our economy. GA in the United States has an annual
economic impact exceeding $11 billion and employs more than 1.3 million
Americans in high-skill, high-wage jobs.
- The United States has more pilots than any other country—fully
60 percent of the world's total. And only in the United States can someone
of moderate means afford to fly. Contrary to the image of pilots as
wealthy, the majority of AOPA members have family incomes between $35,000
and $100,00 a year, the same as the general U.S. population.
- In Canada, general aviation has declined significantly since a system
of fees has been put in place. Fees in Europe and Australia are even
higher than in Canada and their general aviation system has suffered
greater loss.
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