WASHINGTON, DC, March 12, 2003 – In a ruling cheered by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) held that a local ban on Stage 2 aircraft at the Naples Airport in Naples, Florida, is unreasonable, unjustly discriminatory, and preempted by Federal law.

According to GAMA President Ed Bolen, “The FAA’s ruling reinforces the federal interest that is inherent in a national air transportation system, particularly when that system is funded with federal tax dollars. The Naples Airport exceeded its authority by trying ban certain types of aircraft from part of our national airport system.”

GAMA, the National Business Aviation Association, and other national aviation association had opposed the Stage 2 ban in Naples.