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NATA is the National Air Transportation Association
Founded in 1940, NATA aggressively promotes safety and the success of aviation service businesses through its advocacy efforts before government, the media and the public as well as by providing valuable programs and forums to further its members’ prosperity. |
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| Incoming Chairman Of House Committee On Transportation And Infrastructure Addresses Concerns Over TSA |
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| Incoming Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure John Mica (R-FL) addressed growing concerns over the efficiency and operations of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in an op-ed published in the Orlando Sentinel. Representative Mica reinforced his belief in the importance of the TSA’s mission but expressed concern over the agency’s structure and performance.
“My concern is that this important government agency, which I helped establish by law after 9-11, has become a bloated, poorly focused and top-heavy bureaucracy. Unfortunately, TSA does not perform as well as it should to ensure our nation's transportation security.”
Representative Mica went on to address the importance of the TSA’s role in evaluating possible threats, saying, “Without the proper focus and attention to changing threat assessments and the establishment of adequate standards to address those threats, TSA will always be reacting to the last terrorist event and not preparing for the next mode of terrorist attack.”
The full op-ed is available on the Orlando Sentinel’s Web page by clicking here. | |
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| IRS Announces FET Rates For 2011 |
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The Internal Revenue Service has announced the 2011 Federal Excise Tax (FET) rates for commercial aviation. The new rates are in effect beginning January 1, 2011, through at least March 31, 2011.
Because the current FAA funding extension expires at the end of March, the taxes will lapse unless a reauthorization bill or additional funding extension is passed by Congress.
The commercial FET rates subject to inflationary adjustment are the Domestic Segment Fee, International Facilities Fee and the fee for flights to Alaska and Hawaii. Other rates (e.g. noncommercial fuel taxes, 7.5% for commercial passenger transportation and 6.25% for cargo) remain in effect unchanged and are not subject to inflationary adjustments.
The FET rates are:
- Domestic Transportation of Persons Segment Fee : $3.70 (unchanged from 2010)
- International Facilities Fee: $16.30 (up $0.20 from 2010)
- Fee for Flights to Alaska and Hawaii: $8.20 (up $0.10 from 2010)
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| NTSB To Evaluate Rules For Reviewing FAA Certificate Actions |
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Under current rules, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) administrative law judges (ALJ) must assume that the violations alleged by the FAA are true when reviewing an appeal of the emergency nature of a certificate action. These ALJ are permitted to determine whether the FAA acted appropriately in issuing an emergency certificate action, such as a suspension, as opposed to non-emergency action. Many in the industry feel that the requirement to accept all FAA allegations as true places the accused certificate holder at an extreme disadvantage in making an appeal. The classification of a certificate action as an emergency allows the FAA to force the accused certificate holder to cease operations until the matter is fully resolved.
After instances in which FAA allegations, resulting in emergency suspensions of air operating certificates, were found to be mistaken, some in the industry have petitioned the NTSB to allow ALJs more flexibility in reviewing emergency certificate actions. As a result, the NTSB has issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) asking for additional comment on this issue from industry. NATA has published a regulatory report detailing the requests for comment contained in the ANPRM.
The full ANPRM is available here.
NATA’s regulatory report on the ANPRM is available here. | |
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| Have You Checked Out NATA’s Workers’ Compensation Program? |
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The NATA Workers’ Compensation Program was created in April 1975, with three specific goals in mind:
- Provide NATA members with a dependable long-term market for Workers’ Compensation Insurance;
- Structure the program in such a way that if the overall loss experience of the participating members is favorable, participants would share in the return of a portion of the premium at the end of the policy year (good experience return); and
- Make joining the program as easy as possible.
The NATA program is underwritten by USAIG (United States Aircraft Insurance Group), the nation’s largest aviation insurance organization and a division of Berkshire Hathaway. They have provided the coverage since the program’s inception.
Click here to view the online brochure or have your agent/broker check with USAIG at (212) 859-3988. | |
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| Are You Paying Too Much For Uniform Services? |
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NATA has partnered with ARAMARK Uniform Services to provide its members access to a discounted uniform rental and leasing solution. This money- and time-saving membership benefit was negotiated to provide added value to your membership.
NATA members may now take advantage of these valuable and convenient savings:
- 20% off rental and lease uniform rates
- 20% off facility services (mats, towels, mops, restroom supplies, etc.)
To learn more about ARAMARK and the products and services that are available, please click here.
To set up a meeting with an ARAMARK representative to review your uniform and facility services needs, please call Tania Allaire at (818) 973-3906 or send an email to Tania.Allaire@uniform.aramark.com
Please mention source code # 197336. | |
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| NATA Blog Roundup |
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| It’s the start of a new year, and NATA has two new blog entries for you. First, the editor of NATA’s Aviation Business Journal, Shannon Chambers, discusses the importance of getting to know other NATA members through NATA events and publications. Second, NATA’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, Michael France, provides a review of the major regulatory issues of 2010 and what’s coming up in 2011. Be sure to check out both blogs by clicking the links below.
In The Know – Submitted by Shannon Chambers
Regulatory Review – Submitted by Michael France | |
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| Survey Question |
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| What plans does your business have relating to staffing levels in the first quarter of 2011?
Participate in survey. | |
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| Fact Of The Week – Marketing |
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The economic downturn our nation has suffered through the last two years has had an enormous impact on aviation businesses. Companies have worked tirelessly to ensure that every dollar spent has a positive return on their bottom line. Marketing is one area that has been addressed by many aviation businesses, but many company executives still wonder, what is the return?
A recent op-ed in Forbes online addresses what the author sees as some of the key mistakes made by aviation businesses in their marketing campaigns.
“An industry(Aviation) that we love as consumers and professionals was being taken to the cleaners by ad agencies and marketing consultants who, by design or neglect, persuaded otherwise very intelligent businesspeople to commit to amazingly wasteful marketing practices.”
As with any op-ed, the points made are just the opinion of the author, but checkout Forbes Online and see what you think. | |
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