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NATA Holds Successful Series of Air Charter and Industry Town Hall Meetings
Washington, DC, August 28, 2017 – Last week, the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) concluded a series of Air Charter and Industry Town Hall Meetings with aviation business leaders from the Pacific Northwest region gathering at NATA members Global Aviation located at Portland-Hillsboro Airport and Seattle’s King County International Airport. Discussions were led by Bill Deere, NATA Executive Vice President of Government and External Affairs, and covered a range of issues, including illegal charter, efforts to ensure the correct application of transportation excise taxes to aircraft management services, and FBO pricing.
“By holding town halls across the country, we develop a better understanding of the needs and priorities of the entire aviation business community. The value of these meetings was recently demonstrated when NATA resolved an issue related to the certification of Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, a situation we first heard about at a previous NATA Town Hall Meeting. These meetings have also been invaluable to our efforts on Capitol Hill," stated Deere, who briefed companies on the addition of legislative language related to illegal charter to the Senate version of the FAA bill.
"In Seattle, Doug Wilson, President and Founder of FBO Partners, helped bring an important perspective to the issue of FBO pricing. Wilson is the author of a well-received article discussing the various fallacies associated with AOPA’s recent attacks on the airport and FBO community,” added Deere.
Deere also updated attendees on the status of the FAA authorization bill, asking them to remain committed to voicing their opposition to a House proposal to privatize the nation’s air traffic control system. “The ATC privatization debate resumes in full force this September, making it imperative that aviation businesses continue to engage with their elected representatives using resources like NATA’s Legislative Action Center,” stated Deere.
Last week’s meetings followed a successful kick off Town Hall held on August 3rd at another member company, Alliance Aviation Services in Fort Worth, Texas.
Deere concluded, “NATA is a member-driven organization, and we use these meetings to encourage our members to give back to the industry by joining our policy committees. We thank Alliance Aviation Services, Global Aviation and King County International Airport for allowing us to meet at their locations and we urge other member companies to help us promote regional awareness by hosting future meetings. General aviation is an important contributor to the nation’s economy and we thank our town hall participants for providing us with input on the challenges they face in their regions.”
NATA will post future Town Hall Meeting dates and locations on www.nata.aero/events.
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The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has been the voice of aviation business for over 75 years. Representing nearly 2,300 aviation businesses, NATA’s member companies provide a broad range of services to general aviation, the airlines and the military and NATA serves as the public policy group representing the interests of aviation businesses before Congress and the federal agencies. For more information about NATA, please visit www.nata.aero, www.twitter.com/nataaero or www.facebook.com/nataaero.
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