Washington, DC, April 5, 2013 — Led by House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo and Ranking Member Rick Larsen, and House General Aviation Caucus Co-Chairs Representatives Sam Graves and John Barrow, a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives have sent a letter that delivers a clear and salient message to the White House: a resounding NO to aviation user fees.  It is widely expected that the President’s budget due to U.S. Congress on April 10th will once again contain a per flight fee on general aviation operators.  Such a proposal has been rejected by congressional policymakers in the past and the letter sent by members of the U. S. House makes it clear that a user fee proposal will be dead on arrival.

GAMA has stridently opposed efforts to implement these fees because they will negatively impact aviation safety, hurt small businesses across the United States – particularly in rural areas, and require a new government fee collection bureaucracy within the FAA.  GAMA and its member companies played an active role in building support for this letter.

“The U.S. House of Representatives has sent a strong bipartisan message to the Administration: any user fee concept or proposal should be permanently grounded for failure to meet minimum standards of common sense,” said GAMA President Pete Bunce.  Bunce added, “We sincerely thank Representatives Frank LoBiondo, Rick Larsen, Sam Graves, and John Barrow for their leadership in this endeavor, as well as all the members of the House of Representatives that supported this effort.  It is great to have 223 House members recognize the negative impact user fees pose to the health and safety of the general aviation community and respond in such large numbers in opposition.”