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Airports in jeopardy of tax losses
Dayton airport could be affected if Congress does not approve the aviation taxes that are about to expire.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
DAYTON — If Congress doesn't move quickly to authorize new taxes and user fees to support the nation's air traffic control system, it could jeopardize deployment of new technology the overburdened system needs, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday.
FAA-funded capital construction projects at airports could also be affected, including the new control tower planned for Dayton International Airport, unless Congress approves new aviation taxes to replace those which are expiring and currently provide most of the FAA's operating money, said the agency's administrator, Marion C. Blakey.
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Blakey was in Dayton Saturday to attend the National Aviation Hall of Fame's annual enshrinement dinner to recognize prominent aviation figures.
The FAA has plans to spend about $1 billion a year through 2025 to deploy new air traffic control technology nationwide that would replace the 1950s and 1960s-era radar technology on which the air traffic system now depends, Blakey said.
Increasing passenger traffic each year makes modernization critical, and all users of the system know that, she said.
"We've got an old air traffic control system that can't continue to be ratcheted up for the demand," Blakey said.
She said there is no obstacle at the moment to FAA funding for the Dayton air traffic control tower project, which would replace the 40-year-old quarters where the federal air traffic controllers at the Dayton airport now work.
A ground-breaking ceremony for the new tower project is planned for September, Dayton airport spokesman Gene Conrad said Saturday.
The current system of aviation taxes which fund more than 80 percent of the FAA's $14 billion annual budget will expire Sept. 30 when the federal fiscal year ends. Congress has begun hearings on what to do next, including testimony by Blakey who urged the Senate Finance Committee on July 12 to move with urgency.
Blakey is advocating a new aviation tax structure she says would require general aviation — business jets and individually owned aircraft — to pay a larger share of the taxes as its fair share for using the air traffic control system.
Commercial carriers currently pay an unfairly large share of those taxes, she told Congress.
Spokesmen for general aviation have countered that the FAA's proposal would unfairly shift too much of the tax burden onto their aircraft.
