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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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Professional Line Service Training
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PLST Online provides the most up-to-date training available for line service specialists – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Line service supervisors can conduct the new PLST Online training anytime and from anywhere there is access to the Web.
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| WA State House Of Representatives Introduces Tax Increase On Aircraft |
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| Recently, NATA reported that Washington state legislators were considering imposing a tax increase on aircraft owners and operators. Several weeks ago House Bill (HB) 3176 was introduced in the Washington state House of Representatives. This bill would impose a 0.5 percent excise tax "for the purpose of using any aircraft in the state." This new excise tax would replace the current fixed fee for aircraft registration. The tax would be assessed on the fair market value of the aircraft as determined by the state.
All aircraft that are currently required to be registered in the state of Washington would be subject to the new excise tax. Aircraft that meet the requirements for registration in the state, but that are registered in another state or foreign country, would still be required to pay any unpaid portion of the new excise tax. Additionally, aircraft that are currently exempt from registration in the state, and therefore exempt from the new excise tax (such as commercial aircraft engaged in interstate commerce), would now be subject to the state’s personal property taxation.
NATA believes that the history of taxation of aircraft and aircraft operations is clear. Increases in aviation-related taxes decrease aviation activity and, therefore, negatively impact the competitiveness of local businesses and result in a long-term decline in tax revenue. NATA will be working over the next few weeks to educate Washington state legislators on the long-term economic dangers of dramatically increasing taxes on aviation.
Currently, no vote on HB 3176 has been scheduled.
Click here to view the full text of HB 3176.
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| Massachusetts Governor Proposes Taxing Aircraft And Aircraft Parts Sales |
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Earlier this month, Mass. Governor Deval L. Patrick announced his fiscal year 2011 state budget, which begins in July of this year. The governor's budget increases state spending by 3% from $27.4 billion to $28.2 billion. To pay for this increased spending, the governor has proposed, among other funding methods, applying the state's 6.25% sales tax to previously exempt aircraft and aircraft parts sales. According to a press release from Governor Patrick's office, the tax on aircraft and aircraft parts will cost aircraft owners and operators $4.2 million during fiscal year 2011. The press release also touts the governor's plan to increase spending and increase taxation during our economic recovery as "strong fiscal management."
The governor's proposed budget will be debated by the Massachusetts Legislature over the next few weeks.
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| NATA Airports And Flight Training Committees Hold First Meeting Of 2010 |
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Last month, NATA's Airports and Flight Training Committees held their first meetings of 2010 via teleconference. NATA's member committee structure is a vital part of the association as it provides a mechanism for members to help guide and shape the association activities in a variety of areas.
NATA's Airports Committee was established to promote the interests of the association's members relative to airport occupancy, airport security, competition, and environmental issues. During the January meeting, the Airports Committee members engaged in discussions on:
- The TSA's Aircraft Repair Station Security NPRM
- The legislative issues facing our industry
- The latest regulatory changes issued by the FAA and EPA
- Current research into general aviation airports
- NATA's efforts on airport-related issues
NATA's Flight Training Committee discussed the activities the group would undertake in 2010 to ensure the future of the flight training industry. The purpose of the Flight Training Committee is to assist member flight-training organizations in improving their operations in the areas of safety and security, customer satisfaction, competitiveness, quality of training, and viability and profitability. The committee also monitors regulatory issues, influences regulatory changes and engages in defining the future of flight training.
For more information on NATA member committees, please visit www.nata.aero.
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| NATA Environmental Committee Holds First Meeting Of 2010 |
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NATA's Environmental Committee, under the direction of its newly named chairman, Owen Busch, held its first meeting of 2010 via teleconference in late January. The committee received briefings on environmental issues currently affecting the aviation industry including:
- EPA's proposed de-icing Effluent Guideline Limitations
- Avgas Transition
- EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions
After receiving the briefings, the committee moved into discussion on its direction for 2010. NATA's Environmental Committee was established to provide guidance regarding the association's direction in environmental matters and to develop programs designed to assist member companies in minimizing their impact on the environment.
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| User Fees Not Included In President's FY 2011 Budget |
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| The Obama administration recently released the details of the president's federal budget priorities for Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) absent any type of "user fee" proposal for the general aviation community.
"The general aviation community has worked diligently over the last several years with its supporters on Capitol Hill to ensure that any type of user fee proposal contained in the federal budget is essentially dead on arrival," NATA President James K. Coyne stated. "While general aviation user fees have been offered in previous budgets, Congress continues to oppose these unjustified and unnecessary budget proposals."
NATA and its general aviation community partners have advocated that the current system of aviation excise taxes has proven to be a stable and efficient source of funding for our aviation system. "Imposing a user fee on aviation would place an undue administrative burden on system users such as small business and general aviation users, without adequately supplementing the Airport and Airways Trust Fund," Coyne explained.
"We thank Congress for their continued support in opposition to any type of new user fee proposal and welcome the Obama administration's FY11 budget as recognition that there are better avenues to raise aviation funding than placing an onerous new tax on the general aviation community," Coyne concluded. "While NATA is pleased with the Obama administration's choice to omit a user fee proposal in the FY11 budget, the industry must remain vigilant to ensure that any future user fee proposals are unsuccessful."
To view NATA's Legislative Report on the FY 2011 budget, please click here.
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| Coyne And Senior NATA Staff Available For Industry Events |
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NATA President James K. Coyne and senior NATA staff are currently reviewing speaking invitations to member and industry events for 2010. If your organization would like to have Coyne or one the senior NATA staff speak at your event, do not hesitate to contact NATA Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs Eric R. Byer at ebyer@nata.aero. Please include date, time, location and brief description of the event in your request.
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| Senate General Aviation Caucus Kicks-Off |
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United States Senators Mark Begich (D-AK) and Mike Johanns (R-NE), co-chairs of the General Aviation Caucus in the U.S. Senate, held a kick-off event January 28, 2010. The purpose of a congressional caucus is to bring Members of Congress and their staff together to support general aviation by holding regular meetings on issues affecting the industry. "The Senate General Aviation Caucus was founded to ensure that pilots, industry, local governments, and the federal government all have a voice in issues of importance," Sen. Begich said. "Today's meeting is a positive step and creates a platform for bipartisan action on issues important to the GA community." Currently, there are 23 members of the Senate General Aviation Caucus.
The U.S. House of Representatives established a similar caucus last year that has now reached 100 members, a huge feat for any congressional caucus.
Click here to view a combined list of Senate and House caucus members listed by state.
To view Senator Begich's press release on the event, please click here.
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| Strong Partnerships Are Key At NATA's 2010 FBO Leadership Conference |
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NATA completed another successful FBO Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas, last month. More than 100 FBO and general aviation airport owners and managers gathered for a two-day conference to discuss current industry issues such as the economy, health care and security as well as vital business topics including customer service and building community relations. A recurring theme through this year's conference was "building strength through partnerships."
The attendance doubled over last year's conference registrations and is attributed to a bold decision by NATA and National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) leadership to form a partnership, locating NATA's conference with NBAA's Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference. "NATA members are thrilled with the collocation of the FBO Leadership Conference with NBAA's S&D Conference," said NATA President James K. Coyne. "Our members are at S&D because their customers are here - add the opportunity to network with colleagues on the most pressing industry issues, plus the ability to hear from leading business experts, and you get a winning formula."
The first Monday session started with the same sentiment as the last session that day: Thank goodness 2009 is over. Keynote speaker Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis for the Teal Group, delivered the message that the worst is over. The market has stabilized, but there is a long way to go until growth will resume. Aboulafia gave a three-year time period for market growth. He said, "We are clawing our way out, but I am worried about the next 6-12 months." Some of this worry is due to huge barriers to new entries, including the large inventory of used aircraft that also negatively affects new aircraft sales and deliverability. "The bottom half of the market (aircraft under $25 million) fell off a cliff due to factors such as greater sensitivity to economic cycles, more discretionary users, greater reliance on external finances and greater fractional exposure," he said. Aboulafia predicted that the bottom half of the market will recover at a slightly faster pace, provided there is no major structural shift in the market.
Asa Hutchinson, senior partner of AH Law Group and former under secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, spoke on the future of general aviation security. Hutchinson said, "The proper strategy of Homeland Security will lead the TSA to the right conclusions about security." He suggested that a balance is needed between the protection of U.S. borders and transportation that is consistent with the lawful flow of commerce. Also, a risk-based targeting system should be in place allowing for the timely sharing of information to be analyzed for risk and then the focus should be placed on those posing the risk. Hutchinson said, "There is a risk in general aviation being treated the same as airlines when it comes to security. Your voice is now more important than ever." He added that two important steps to consider are appointing a security coordinator in each operation and performing a vulnerability assessment on a facility to gather the statistics needed to make a case about the level of risk posed by that operation.
Brian Grubb from the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center drove home the need for partnerships in business success. Grubb said that the Ritz-Carlton reviewed the source of their top market segments and discovered that some of their most valuable customers are, in fact, travel agents. Using this information, Ritz-Carlton formed a stronger partnership with the travel agents by asking what they could do to help them build their business. Another tactic used by the Ritz-Carlton in tough economic times is to take an aggressive stance by encouraging customers one tier beneath a typical Ritz-Carlton guest to buy discounted rooms in the shoulder season. The profit margin is minimal, but a new market segment has been exposed to the impeccable service of the Ritz-Carlton.
Tuesday's program began with the Leadership Breakfast, featuring NATA's James K. Coyne, NBAA's Edward M. Bolen, GAMA's Peter J. Bunce and AOPA's Craig L. Fuller. All agreed that to help overcome the challenges facing our industries a grassroots effort to build strong relationships with state and local level politicians is necessary to help spread the word of the immense importance of general aviation and business aviation to the economy and stress the perils of taxes and a wide array of damaging policies to business. Coyne concluded, "We have to take this opportunity as a greater community to revitalize the political view of GA and business aviation to help the nation get out of the recession."
Conference agenda items included an informative session by NBAA staff on the efficient and effective marketing techniques for S&D Conference participants.
NATA also kicked off its 70th Anniversary celebration with a birthday bash gathering members, staff and industry friends. Visit www.nata.aero for more information on upcoming 70th Anniversary events, and www.nata.aero/fbolc for information on NATA's 2010 FBO Leadership Conference presentations.
Coyne wrapped up the conference with news on next year's event. "I am extremely pleased to announce that NATA will hold its 2011 FBO Leadership Conference in Savannah on January 31 and February 1, leading up to NBAA's Conference once again," Coyne said. "A valuable take-away from this year's conference is that success can be achieved through the sharing of information with strong strategic partners. We look forward to continuing our partnership with NBAA to bring the best return on our members' educational and business investment."
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| NATA's FBO Success Seminar At Spring Training |
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Running and managing a fixed base operation is a very demanding job. It not only requires a strong business sense, it also requires motivated and loyal employees, targeted marketing and creative negotiating skills.
NATA's FBO Success Seminar has been designed to help you with almost every conceivable situation in the day-to-day business of running a successful FBO, from developing a favorable lease with an airport authority to understanding and working with your fuel supplier; from decreasing credit card interest rate charges to lowering insurance premiums; and from dealing with FAA and EPA issues to building long-term profitable customer relationships.
Seminar Benefits
- Save money without cutting corners
- Lower your insurance premiums
- Improve operational efficiency
- Foster FBO profitability
- Increase the intrinsic value of your FBO
- Meet your short- and long-term financial goals
Among The Topics To Be Covered
- Operating your business in tough times
- Decrease credit card interest rates and lower insurance premiums
- Strengthen your fuel supplier relationship
- Optimize operations and prepare for contingencies
- Building long-term profitable customer relationships
Make fractional aircraft programs your ally.
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| NATA's 2010 Day On The Hill Slated For April 21 |
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| Every spring, NATA holds its annual Day on the Hill event where members, like yourself, can take advantage of the opportunity to meet with Members of Congress to discuss important issues affecting the general aviation industry and your business.
NATA is especially pleased to announce that it will be modifying its Day on the Hill event to include the association's Annual Meeting, election of officers and annual Industry Excellence Awards Dinner. All three of these events, along with the association's 2010 Day on the Hill, will take place on Wednesday, April 21. NATA members may view the 2010 Day on the Hill event page, complete with agenda, registration information and white papers, by clicking here.
NATA is also excited that our Industry Excellence Awards will be presented at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, across from the White House, where Thomas J. Donohue, the Chamber's President and CEO, will discuss with our members many of the issues that were addressed during their visits on Capitol Hill.
Two of NATA's highest honors, the William A. "Bill" Ong Memorial Award and the NATA Award for Distinguished Service, will highlight the evening's Industry Excellence Awards Dinner with presentations to this year's winners. We are thrilled to announce that Gary Driggers, long-time executive at Midcoast Aviation, has been selected as this year's William A. "Bill" Ong Memorial Award winner. Driggers, a former NATA chairman and member of the board of directors, recently retired from Midcoast Aviation after 22 years of service. The NATA Award for Distinguished Service will be presented to the Honorable Jerry Costello (D-IL), Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Aviation, a long-time supporter of the general aviation community. The association will also be honoring winners for the following awards:
NATA strongly encourages all members to attend this year's Day on the Hill as it will not only allow you to have your voice heard on Capitol Hill, but it also allows you to network with industry colleagues and take part in honoring some of our industry's best during the NATA Industry Excellence Awards Dinner.
To learn more about the 2010 Day on the Hill, please click here.
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