February 11, 2009
The Honorable
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative:
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA), the voice of aviation business, is the public policy group representing the interests of aviation businesses before Congress, federal agencies and state governments. NATA’s 2,000 member companies own, operate and service aircraft. These companies provide for the needs of the traveling public by offering services and products to aircraft operators and others such as fuel sales, aircraft maintenance, parts sales, storage, rental, airline servicing, flight training, Part 135 on-demand air charter, fractional aircraft program management and scheduled commuter operations in smaller aircraft. NATA members are a vital link in the aviation industry providing services to the general public, airlines, general aviation, and the military.
On behalf of NATA, I am writing to request your support for airport improvement program (AIP) funding in H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. As you know, this legislation provides critical infrastructure funding designed to aid highway, bridge, railroad and aviation projects that have been put on hold due to lack of federal and state funding. It is important to note that the U.S. House of Representatives maintained the local matching requirement for AIP funds but waived the same requirement for highway, rail and transit funding, while the U.S. Senate provided a full federal guarantee of funds for AIP.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), funding aviation infrastructure projects within AIP alone would permit essential ready-to-go projects such as taxiway rehabilitation and widening, apron construction and rehabilitation, airport rescue and firefighting equipment and facilities, and public access roads to proceed without further delay. In addition, 75,000 jobs are expected to be created with these funds alone. Although federally funded transportation projects are normally required to certify a percentage of the total project funding from the local level, the struggling economy and declining state funding levels are making the local match for AIP projects more difficult.
NATA and its member companies urge you to ensure that 100% federal funding will be retained for AIP funds in the final bill before it’s signed by President Obama in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
James K. Coyne
President