The Air Charter Safety Foundation supports calls for reclaiming existing jet fuel taxes for aviation safety programs.
As a nonprofit safety foundation focused on business aviation, we are deeply concerned by recent calls to raise tax revenues from the industry when the current tax revenues are not being appropriately deployed to ensure the safety and security of the US aviation infrastructure. Reaching into the pockets of small business owners in private aviation will mean less investment in safety systems like Safety Management Systems, Flight Data Monitoring, and personnel training.
We fully support the National Air Transportation Association and the National Business Aviation Association’s efforts to stop the misdirection of funds meant for the Airport and Airways Trust Fund (AATF) into the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The Government Accountability Office has reported that “GAO estimates that, since fiscal year 2006, between $1 billion and $2 billion, or more than half of tax receipts for sales of noncommercial jet fuel, have not been transferred into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund from the Highway Trust Fund” (GAO).
Billions of dollars meant to support the safety and security of our public airports, and lives of our passengers and crews, are being diverted to other funds.
Runway incursions are of key concern. Our nation’s airports, particularly general aviation fields, are ill-equipped to prevent basic hazards to aircraft and passengers, including a lack of experienced air traffic controllers, lack of proper signage or on-field technology to prevent accidents, and more. The FAA’s Runway Incursion Mitigation program has seen a 78% reduction in runway incursions but has only enacted mitigations at 99 airports out of the over 5,000 public airports used by private aircraft.
The Air Charter Safety Foundation wholeheartedly supports the need for more FAA funding to support safety programs and training of key personnel like air traffic controllers and safety inspectors. However, the dollars contributed by the aviation community should be used for their intended purpose and not misdirected for non-aviation safety purposes.
