NATA News

NATA supports the funding provisions in H.R. 915, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2009 that was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year. The bill includes adequate funding for NextGen and does not include user fees. While House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) has made finalizing FAA Reauthorization a priority, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman John Rockefeller (D-WV) has not stated whether his chamber will work to finalize the legislation this year.

To read NATA’s Legislative Report on H.R. 915, please click here.

In a press statement yesterday, Chairman Rosenker said that “the 2008 accident statistics reveal a mixed picture," and "[t]here's a lot of room for improvement in this area, and . . . we continue to do everything we can to identify the safety issues involved . . ."

The air charter industry comprises a wide-variety of aircraft with mission profiles that are almost too numerous to name, but include helicopter EMS and off-shore work, single-engine piston-powered tour operations, just-in-time cargo carriers, and long-range international passenger-carrying turbojets.

“This variation presents a unique challenge when attempting to draw safety conclusions,” explained ACSF Executive Director Jacqueline Rosser. “Today, the industry’s safety record is summed up by a single, all encompassing analysis. It is incredibly difficult to identify safety issues, provide targeted recommendations and then measure the success of interventions if you can’t determine the safety record for each of the distinct aircraft or operational categories.”

For example, the NTSB accident database shows that 26 of the fatalities in 2008 resulted from seven helicopter accidents. But there is no further analysis to put that particular fact into context. “Knowing the helicopter accident rate would allow us to put into perspective the severity of the 2008 accident record. Right now, the NTSB cannot provide a Part 135 helicopter accident rate because flight hours are not tracked by aircraft type,” Rosser explained.

Unfortunately, the current method for collecting Part 135 data is only able to produce the “mixed picture” noted by Chairman Rosenker. The ACSF agrees that an accurate understanding of the industry is necessary to address safety concerns successfully.

“Developing the ability to analyze accident rates by type of aircraft or mission would provide a far clearer picture than we have today. It would allow voluntary safety actions, guidance, oversight and regulatory initiatives to be directed at the areas where they are most needed while permitting us to look to those operations with lower accident rates for possible best practices that can be more widely promoted and adopted,” Rosser noted.

The ACSF is committed to improving data collection and safety analysis for the Part 135 on-demand air charter industry. The ACSF believes that industry and government must work together to develop the necessary enhanced data collection tools.

Click here to download PDF version of this release. 

The draft bill requires economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced 4 percent below 2005 levels in 2012; 20 percent by 2020; 42 percent by 2030; and 83 percent by 2050 through a cap-and-trade program. In addition, the bill includes a section requiring a low carbon fuel standard for aviation and greenhouse gas emission standards for aircraft/engines.

The draft includes a plan to prevent jobs from going offshore by giving rebates to some internationally competitive industries to purchase emission credits. Although it does not specify which industries will get the rebates, they are expected to include steel, cement, glass and aluminum producers. The bill also has provisions for developing carbon capture and sequestration technologies. And it gives financial aid to car companies to retool their plants to build electric vehicles. The draft is missing crucial details for a cap-and-trade program, including how emission credits would be either given to businesses or sold to them via auction. Chairman Waxman stated that “it was more important to talk to members of the committee to get their input on allocating credits.”

Finally, the draft leaves many important questions unanswered, such as how much businesses would have to spend to buy emission credits through an auction, and whether consumers would be compensated for higher energy bills as businesses pass along the cost of reducing emissions. NATA will have a complete report on the legislation next week.

Representatives John Mica (R-FL) and Thomas Petri (R-WI) cited a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) long-standing most-wanted request to reduce the dangers of aircraft flying in icing conditions. The Congressmen also referred to media stories of icing as a "potential factor" in both the Bombardier Q400 accident near Buffalo, New York, and the Pilatus PC-12 accident in Butte, Montana, as justification for the hearing.

Both accidents are still under investigation by NTSB, and no conclusions have been reached regarding icing as a possible cause.

No date has been set for the requested hearing.

• Forty-four percent of respondents claim that they have cancelled plans to build a hangar or have reduced hangar size because of the cost of compliance with NFPA 409.
• Seventy-eight percent of respondents stated that the additional cost of complying with NFPA 409, including a mandatory fire suppression system for Group III hangars (under 12,000 square feet), would prevent member companies from constructing new hangars.

Click here to review the complete NFPA survey results.

The results from this survey will be presented by NATA President James K. Coyne during the next National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Airport Facilities Technical Committee meeting on April 21 at Boeing Field in Seattle, WA. NATA will make a copy of these comment available to members later this month.

Also, NATA Manager of Regulatory Affairs Michael France has applied to the NFPA's Airport Facilities Technical Committee to represent aviation businesses nationwide. The NFPA Airport Facilities Technical Committee is responsible for making recommendations to the NFPA Standards Council on fire protection requirements for airport facilities.

The ultimate goal of these ongoing activities is to convince the NFPA of the detrimental impact that foam fire suppression system requirements have on aviation businesses nationwide and to explore new requirements more appropriate for Group II and III hangars.

Members wishing to learn more about foam fire suppression systems and NFPA 409 may visit the association's NFPA 409 Issue Page by clicking here.

For more information, please contact Michael France.

With so many states under tremendous economic strain, NATA is seeing states become increasingly aggressive in assigning a tax liability to aircraft operations. States do retain the right to tax property that is operated within their borders and many do so via a personal property tax. Operators should also be aware of sales and use taxes, registration fees and other taxes or fees that can be applied regardless of whether the air charter business is based in the state. Also, states vary in their methods of determining how long an aircraft must be in the state before it is considered to be domiciled there.

Being aware of and planning for potential tax liability is important. To help educate operators, NATA is pleased to announce a new on-line resource for members. The NATA State Tax Issues page provides detailed information on aircraft taxes for each state. Operators should review the information for states they frequent to ensure compliance and to enable proper tax planning.

The State Tax Issues page was compiled by NATA-member Conklin & de Decker and will be regularly updated as states amend their tax laws. For more information about the variety of consulting services offered by Conklin & de Decker, please visit their webpage at www.conklindd.com.

Visit the NATA State Tax Issues Webpage.

For more information, contact Jacqueline Rosser.

The bill passed the House in 2007 but stalled in the Senate.  Instead of an election run by the National Labor Relations Board, workers would be able to fill out cards saying whether they support or oppose a union. Big labor unions like the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Unions (AFL-CIO), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the Change to Win Coalition spent millions of dollars during the 2009 election promoting this legislation, and are pushing Congress to approve it. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other pro-business groups are working in opposition to the legislation. 

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) announced last week that he will oppose invoking cloture on the card check bill, a decision that denies Democrats and labor unions a 60th vote to overcome a Republican filibuster. Specter feels the better way to expand labor's clout in collective bargaining is through amendments to the National Labor Relations Act rather than through eliminating the secret ballot and mandating arbitration.  Specter voted for cloture when the Senate considered the bill in 2007, but he stated that the economic crisis prompted his decision on this bill. 

Companies such as Starbucks, Whole Foods and Costco announced last week they were forming the Committee for a Level Playing Field and, with the backing of Democratic operative Lanny Davis, would set out to publicize six principles for labor-law reform that provided an alternative to card check legislation.

To view NATA’s Talking Points in Opposition to the legislation, please click here.

To participate in NATA’s Action Call by writing to your Members of Congress in opposition to this legislation, please click here.

Chief pilots, directors and company executives of Part 135 operations are invited to:

• Receive an exclusive FAA regulatory review of Part 135 issues such as safety management systems, operational control, Part 135 ARC proposals, flight and duty time requirements, and performance assessments prior to landing with Margaret Gilligan, associate administrator for Aviation Safety, Dennis Pratte, manager, Part 135 Air Carrier Operations Branch, Don Arendt, manager, Flight Standards Office and Hooper Harris, acting director, Office of Accident Investigation (Invited)
• Get a general aviation security update from John Sammon, assistant administrator of TSA’s Transportation Sector Network Management. Sammon will address the status of the Large Aircraft Security Program NPRM, security directives affecting general aviation operators, and Operation Playbook, as well as many other topics.
• Explore what you can do to curb the public and media attack on business aviation with Bill Garvey, Business & Commercial Aviation, Lisa Stark, ABC News and Tom Costello, NBC Nightly News (Invited).
• Discover the best ways to protect your crews, executives and owners from criminal liability in the event of an accident.
• Know your rights in responding to enforcement actions. In the event of an inspection, find out what you must disclose and what restrictions you may be able to impose on their activities. Get the facts.
• Learn what some of the World’s top general aviation management executives have to say about the current state and future prospects of general aviation manufacturing sales and delivery and how they will affect your charter, fuel sales and maintenance businesses in years to come.
• Prepare your business now for success in the new economy. Join James K. Coyne, NATA, Richard Van Gemert, Jet Aviation, Bill Haberstock, Million Air – Salt Lake City and James C. Christiansen, NetJets for a frank discussion about surviving in today’s economy and what you can do now to take advantage of a market rebound.
• Take some time to relax and be inspired and entertained during a dinner performance by the Capitol Steps and during NATA’s Excellence Awards Breakfast keynote speech by George Mason University’s Head Coach Jim Larranaga.

Visit www.nata.aero/acs for more information on this event, housing details and registration instructions. The 2009 Air Charter Summit and 2009 FBO Leadership Conference will be held back-to-back this year to give you more options. Volume and combo event discounts are available. Come for one event, stay for both or send a team to divide and conquer!

Managers and senior-level executives of fixed base operations and vendors are invited to:

• Take your customer service experience and marketing to a new level with Brian Grubb from The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center. Grubb will demonstrate how you can provide legendary customer service without breaking the bank and teach you how to fulfill all of your customers’ wishes…even those they do not express.
• Receive an exclusive FAA airports office update from Catherine M. Lang, acting associate administrator for Airports on issues such as noise restrictions, minimum standards, overnight curfews, and many more.
• Get a TSA aviation security update from Douglas Hofsass, general manager, Commercial Aviation & Airports. Hofsass will address employee screening, ramp access, and Operation Playbook security measures, as well as many other topics.
• Explore what you can do to curb the public and media attack on business aviation with Bill Garvey, Business & Commercial Aviation, Lisa Stark, ABC News and Tom Costello, NBC Nightly News (Invited).
• Find out what some of the World’s top general aviation management executives have to say about the current state and future prospects of general aviation manufacturing sales and delivery and how they will affect your charter, fuel sales and maintenance businesses in years to come.
• Learn more about how the NFPA 409 building fire codes for GA aircraft hangars will affect your budget, hangar construction plans and overall business.
• Hear from AOPA President Craig Fuller about a bold new campaign created to tell the human side of aviation called “General Aviation Serves America.”
• Take some time to relax and be inspired and entertained during a dinner performance by the Capitol Steps and during NATA’s Excellence Awards Breakfast keynote speech by George Mason University’s Head Coach Jim Larranaga.

Visit www.nata.aero/fbolc for more information on this event, housing details and registration instructions. The 2009 Air Charter Summit and 2009 FBO Leadership Conference will be held back-to-back this year to give you more options. Volume and combo event discounts are available. Come for one event, stay for both or send a team to divide and conquer!

To sponsor the Air Charter Summit, please click here.

To sponsor the FBO Leadership Conference, please click here.

For more information, please contact Diane Gleason.

“This year’s Day on the Hill comes at a pivotal point in the general aviation industry’s storied history with the American economy in a recession and the public’s perception that the use of corporate aircraft is a luxury,” stated NATA President James K. Coyne. “All members of the general aviation industry are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this outstanding opportunity to meet with their Members of Congress and staff so they know directly how important this industry is to their district, state and the American economy.”

General aviation industry members are welcome to participate in the 2009 NATA Day on the Hill and may view this year’s agenda and register online by clicking here.

To view NATA’s 2009 Legislative Priorities, please click here.

“NATA looks forward to representatives from the general aviation community blanketing Capitol Hill to address the major issues confronting our industry,” Coyne said. “More than ever, we encourage all members of the general aviation community to participate in this event to educate Members of Congress and their staff on the value of our industry.”