June 6th, 2005 From the Editor’s Desk: This week's BusinessJet Class’ newsletter brings you some of the current issues in General Aviation. Your customers who use private jets, will be impacted by political maneuvers, industry competition and market forces that are now converging on this industry. As long time participants in the transportation industry, your comprehension of these issues will lead to a more thoughtful public discourse. If you would like to send questions or comments to this newsletter, just hit the reply key. We welcome your response and will select appropriate comments to print in ensuing newsletters. Is the FAA running out of money? What about user fees? Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and FAA Administrator Marion Blakey are using every available public opportunity to predict an FAA funding meltdown by 2007. However, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), revenue into the aviation trust fund will be up 53 percent. At a recent House aviation subcommittee hearing, AOPA President Phil Boyer cited the OMB prediction of trust fund surpluses out to the year 2010. "It might not be as bad as painted," Boyer told the committee, as he showed them a chart of the OMB's projections predicting the growth in trust fund revenue. These conflicting predictions mean there's a big debate brewing about where the money to fund FAA services will come from in the future. That's one major reason that user fees have become a hot topic in recent months as think tanks, the airlines, and the Bush administration argue for changes in the current excise tax structure. Some plans include a fee-based access to critical services like Air Traffic Control and weather briefings. AOPA to represent member interests on Grand Canyon Group A group with interests as diverse as the southwestern landscape has been appointed to help shape the regulations for commercial sightseeing operations over the Grand Canyon. As a member of the working group, AOPA will continue its efforts to preserve private pilots' freedom to fly over national parks and to allow small Part 91 sightseeing operations to continue. Other members of the 19-person group include Indian tribes, environmental groups, and sightseeing operators. The group will provide input and solutions for the final over-flights plan that calls for restoring the natural quiet—at least to a substantial degree—to the canyon by creating routes or corridors for commercial air tour operations that employ quiet aircraft technology. The working group's first meeting is scheduled for mid-July. Estimates on Mini-Jet air taxi market vary On June 5, NASA, private industry, and numerous university aviation research departments offered a demonstration in Danville, Virginia, of what they call the small aircraft transportation system (SATS), now more commonly referred to as a nationwide point-to-point air taxi system. How large a market will it be? Best guesses of government, industry, and market analysts range from 3,500 aircraft to 4,500 aircraft over a 10-year period. However, one analyst told The Salt Lake Tribune that the revolution isn't going to happen. Richard Aboulafia of the Fairfax, Virginia-based Teal Group called the idea of small general aviation airports nationwide linked by air taxis "fantasyland," and said it will not revolutionize air travel. In that same Tribune article on May 21 an FAA spokesman was quoted saying the opposite, that traditional aviation (an apparent reference to airline travel) is "going away." To unsubscribe from our mailing list please visit this page. BusinessJet Class Travel Agency Newsletter - 06 June 2005