[JYO] AOPA President Phil Boyer will testify today...

AOPA President Phil Boyer will be the lead-off witness on the second panel 
Tuesday, September 25. He will start by updating the members of the 
subcommittee on what flying privileges have been restored and what problems 
remain, including the need to "free the GA 41,000," the aircraft currently 
trapped inside the 28 enhanced Class B airspace areas and the Washington, 
D.C., and New York exclusionary zones.

Statement of
Phil Boyer
President

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

before the

COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

AVIATION SUBCOMMITTEE
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

The Honorable John L. Mica, Chairman
The Honorable William O. Lipinski, Ranking Member

Concerning

Aviation Security and the
Future of the Aviation Industry

September 25, 2001

Good afternoon, my name is Phil Boyer, and I am President of the Aircraft 
Owners and Pilots Association. AOPA enjoys the financial support of over 
374,000 dues paying members. Our objective as an association is to promote 
the interests of those who contribute to our economy by taking advantage of 
general aviation aircraft to fulfill their business and personal 
transportation needs. More than half of all pilots in the United States are 
members of AOPA, making it the world's
largest pilot organization. 

Like all Americans, general aviation pilots are still in shock over the 
cowardly attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and outraged 
that terrorists would use the freedom of our own aviation system against us. 
We are all deeply saddened by the tragic events and want to help in any way 
we can.

Shortly after these tragic events unfolded, AOPA volunteered the use of its 
member-owned business aircraft, N4GA, "November 4 Gee Aye", to the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). More importantly, AOPA has operated as an 
adjunct part of the FAA itself. Our 800 phone lines and our website, 
www.aopa.org, have become the definitive locations for pilots trying to 
obtain information on when they can fly and under what restrictions. Let me 
just give the Subcommittee a brief review of those communications. Our phone 
line traffic has, on a daily basis, quintupled the number of calls received 
from pilots. But even more dramatic has been the growth in internet contacts. 
Site visits to www.aopa.org have increased six fold -- reaching a peak of 
almost half a million visits last Wednesday as FAA began finalizing the 
notice to airmen that would restore some level of VFR flight.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to again publicly acknowledge the tremendous job 
being done by Secretary Mineta, Administrator Garvey and our nation's air 
traffic controllers during this time of crisis. Could any other group of 
people in the world have safely and quickly shut down the world's busiest 
airspace system? I think not. And when it came time to restart that system I 
believe general aviation could not have asked for a better advocate for 
allowing us reentry into that system than Secretary Mineta. His taking the 
time during the initial period to speak directly through me to our members 
allowed impatient pilots wishing to get home, or begin using the system 
again, to better understand the "bigger picture."

General Aviation Is A Vital Part Of American Air Transportation

As most of the national airspace system has been returned to civilian users, 
decision makers outside the aviation community have discovered just how 
deeply general aviation is wound into the fabric of American life. But shame 
on us - as an industry, as pilots, and as owners. The Secretary and 
Administrator find themselves having to explain to top government leaders 
from other sectors what this Committee already knows. General aviation is 
just not people boring holes in the sky. General aviation is business and 
recreational travel, flight instruction for our future airline pilots and 
even those who will enter more advanced military training. It's inspecting 
pipelines, ferrying checks, carrying out emergency duties such as 
transporting blood supplies and vital organs, and "ag pilots" treating 
cropland. An estimated 65 percent of general aviation flights are conducted 
for business and public services.

General aviation operates at more than 5,300 public use airports of which 
airline service is available at only 650. The number of general aviation 
hours flown each year is almost 30 million - 60 percent of the total number 
of hours flown. More than 92 percent of the roughly 225,000 civil aircraft 
registered in the United States are general aviation aircraft. And of the 
nation's 635,000 pilots, an estimated 500,000+ fly general aviation 
airplanes. Of these, more than 374,000 of them are members of the Aircraft 
Owners and Pilots Association. The great fleet of general aviation aircraft 
is the mainspring of a $20 billion a year industry which generates more than 
$65 billion per year in economic activity.

General Aviation Security: Not One Size Fits All

Early on in this crisis I told our members that in the days to come, and as 
GA flying resumes, there would be heightened security and additional 
restrictions to ensure our national welfare. There may even be misguided talk 
of revoking basic freedoms. But AOPA worked with the FAA, DOT and the 
Administration's national security leadership to allow GA flying as quickly 
as possible and limit restrictions to only those absolutely necessary. I 
would ask the Subcommittee, as it begins to take initiatives to enhance 
security, to reject a "one size fits all" approach to both airport security 
and airspace access. 

Are general aviation aircraft the likely point from whence to launch further 
terrorist assaults on our country? Obviously no one can answer that question 
with 100 percent certainty, but I hear loud and clear that threats to our 
national security still remain. Therefore, the track-ability, intended flight 
path, and the destination of  aircraft is still needed for flights. But 
smaller weight aircraft, like the single-engine Cessna 172 or twin-engine 
Piper Seminole, do not possess the fuel capacity, speed, momentum, or payload 
to present the same threat imposed by commercial and corporate jets. 

A large number of these aircraft operate from rural or sparsely populated 
areas, located in the American West. Pilots take off from some airports that 
are hundreds of miles from any area that could be considered a national 
security concern. Their destinations are often to other areas equally as 
isolated. Requiring these aircraft to fly under air traffic control would 
create a burden that is likely to overwhelm the system. 

The Air Traffic Control System cannot handle complex solutions at this highly 
volatile time. There are tens of thousands of instrument (IFR) flight plans 
filed every day. This requires the processing and approval of these flight 
plans and communications with every aircraft from take off to touchdown. It 
is hard to see how the system could handle the increased number of flight 
plans and aircraft communications required by placing VFR traffic under air 
traffic control. 

Furthermore, every aircraft operating in US airspace would be required to 
"squawk" a different transponder code assigned by air traffic control. 
However, there are only a total of 4096 discrete transponder codes available. 
The operation of thousands upon thousands of IFR and VFR aircraft under air 
traffic control would mean there would simply not be enough transponder codes 
for every GA flight. 

As I mentioned earlier, there are over 5,300 public use airports in the 
United States and only approximately 650 of those airports are served by 30+ 
seat airline service. Indeed, only 18 percent of the nation's public use 
airports even have runways longer than 5,000 feet. Obviously, we feel those 
airports that primarily serve the airlines should be our nation's highest 
priority and we expect that security in facilities where general aviation is 
co-located with airline operation to have increased security. But as we will 
see below, general aviation is at critical economic juncture and additional 
security requirements at every other airport is not likely to enhance 
security but will no doubt force the closure of small businesses and erode 
the nation's pilot population.

Future of General Aviation

The government is going to help the airlines, but what about general aviation 
flying schools and starving flight instructors who are going to be evicted 
from their apartments? I always thought flight instructors should have some 
kind of a union or something for when things like this happen. I am driving a 
car with 400,000 miles on it and I have no health insurance. Is there 
anything that you can tell me that will give me hope? Tomorrow I am going to 
see if I can get a job at a grocery store. Funny how my $25,000 training to 
be commercial /multi/inst/CFII is all useless right now. I hope things change 
soon, but even then I don't know if many of my students will come back. This 
is going to hurt general aviation beyond belief. Julie-Ann Nydegger

In terms of general aviation activity, the currently available statistics are 
only through the first two quarters of this year, but compared to the 
previous year those activity levels are, at best, flat. The short-term effect 
of grounding VFR flights has resulted in countless general aviation related 
businesses pushed to the brink of extinction. General Aviation IFR and tower 
operations are running nearly flat compared to prior years. While flight 
activity appears to have experienced a decrease relative to last year, a 
comparison of multiple years illustrates a much smaller rate of decline 
(nearly flat). Similar to flight activity, gallons of aviation gasoline sold 
also appear to exhibit continued trend of a slight decrease. 

During the second quarter, and for the first half of the year, the numbers of 
all types of pilot certificates and instrument ratings issued have remained 
virtually flat. Although numbers of issuances have changed compared to 2000, 
historical comparisons illustrate flat growth rates for all certificates and 
ratings examined.

Over two-thirds of the nation's flight instructors are members of AOPA. Their 
small flight schools, already hard-hit by dramatic increases in aviation 
insurance, will go out of business without some sort of federal relief. 
Typical turbine aircraft payments exceed $10,000 per month. Insurance exceeds 
$3,000 per month. Beyond the restoration of flight training there are other 
secondary businesses at risk For example, mechanics and fuel suppliers are 
being pushed to the brink as well. One sky diving operation lost $48,000 in 
student reservations the first weekend alone. This led the owner to cancel 
all advertising to cut expenses and to start looking for another job.

Although not as big as airlines, the business situation of individual flight 
instructors and flight schools is just as dire. By our estimate the loss of 
flight instruction revenue over a two week period could reach upwards of $245 
million. Granted an instructor's physical plant has not been wiped out, but 
the place where they do business -- the airspace above their airports -- has 
been denied them. AOPA is by no means an expert in the specifics of designing 
disaster relief legislation, but we believe there are some elements that 
should be considered including direct assistance similar to that of the 
airlines as well as short/intermediate-term "no-interest" loans, long-term 
"low-interest" loans, temporary relief from payments on any SBA loan programs 
and temporary relief from any federal excise tax or other federal fees 
incurred in the course of conducting aviation business activities. I have 
attached a brief summary of our ideas to this testimony.

Mr. Chairman, general aviation businesses are not looking to take advantage 
of this national emergency, but surely Congress can at least grant these 
people the same benefits we bestow on Americans who suffer through 
devastating hurricanes and floods. These people are on the front lines of a 
uniquely American dream -- earning their living through flight. They in turn 
pass that dream along to the next generation. I would submit to the 
Subcommittee if we let these people lose their dream than the terrorists have 
won at least one small battle. Above all, I implore this Committee to take 
the lead and act quickly -- as there may be no flight schools left to help in 
as little as a few weeks time.

It is true that as a result of the horrible events of September 11th our 
nation and its general aviation community will never again be the same. Over 
the past two weeks I've heard plenty of dire predictions about the future of 
this unique component of America that I deeply love. I promise you Mr. 
Chairman that I will work with this Committee, the Department of 
Transportation, the National Security Council and the new office of Homeland 
Security to ensure our national airspace and runways are safe for all pilots 
and the traveling public. Make no mistake about it -- general aviation will 
keep flying. And with swift action by this Committee to save our flight 
schools we will enter a new period of travel where people will look at 
general aviation as an even more viable alternative than it ever was to 
commercial air travel. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for the opportunity to present our views.


AOPA's Proposal
for a
General Aviation Flight School
Federal Aid Recovery Plan

General aviation small businesses that provide aircraft rental and flight 
training (flight schools) are experiencing tremendous economic losses. These 
losses are a direct result of unprecedented actions taken by the Federal 
Aviation Administration in response to the terrorist acts on September 11, 
2001. This small business sector faces dire consequences that will include 
the layoff of thousands of workers.

The losses incurred by flight schools do not appear to qualify under any 
established federal disaster relief law or program. Therefore, AOPA is 
recommending the adoption of a federal aid recovery plan for general aviation 
flight schools. 

For eligibility under this proposed plan, a qualified domestic general 
aviation small business should qualify as a "small business" as defined by 
the Small Business Administration (SBA) per 13 CFR §121.201. The GA flight 
school should be able to clearly demonstrate it is germane, necessary and not 
incidental to the revenue of that small business. Eligibility for this plan 
would be demonstrated by the plan recipient at a date after the grant was 
received.

The proposed "General Aviation Flight School Federal Aid Recovery Plan", as a 
part of the airline relief legislation, must include all of the following:

- Immediate grants consisting of expense reimbursement payments to all 
qualified general aviation flight schools grounded by FAA orders that were 
issued on or after September 11, 2001.  

- Each grant should at least equal all business revenue losses directly due 
to flight restrictions imposed September 11, 2001 less any directly related 
"business interruption" insurance payment made to the recipient. 

-The estimate for the total amount of grants is $250 million for every 14 day 
period. This is based on an industry estimate of 3,500 flight schools losing 
an average of $5,000 per day.
 
Short/Intermediate-term "no-interest" loans. 
Long-term "low-interest" loans. 
Temporary relief from payments on any SBA loan programs. 
Temporary relief from any federal excise tax or other federal fees incurred 
in the course of conducting aviation business activities. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should be used to administer 
grants provided by relief legislation. FEMA would also provide assistance in 
obtaining loans through various SBA loan programs in the event that grant 
monies are not sufficient. Though FEMA's responsibilities have traditionally 
been to assist communities, individuals and businesses with grants and loans 
in times of natural disaster, FEMA seems best suited to administer this 
General Aviation Flight School Federal Aid Recovery Plan.

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