General aviation groups including AOPA, HAI and the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO), sent a joint letter to House leaders opposing legislation that would make it harder for veterans to pursue aviation careers.
H.R. 3016, the Veterans Employment, Education, and Healthcare Improvement Act, would cap flight training tuition and fee benefits at $20,235, a move the Feb. 9 letter warns will “cause immediate and alarming changes to collegiate flight-training degree benefits for our nation’s military veterans.”
“There are great jobs in aviation and our nation’s veterans have earned a right to pursue those opportunities,” Jim Coon, AOPA senior vice president of government affairs. “By capping flight training benefits, this legislation would effectively put flying careers out of reach for many vets.”
Without a sizeable, out-of-pocket investment, “a veteran would be unable to attain an aeronautical college degree with a commercial pilot license,” the groups wrote.
The letter opposing H.R. 3016 was also signed by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), National Air Transportation Association (NATA), and National Business Aviation Association (NBAA).
