The Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Fla., is where many pilots are this week, so AOPA is making the most of it to collect signatures on its anti-user fee petition. Giant boards posted at three sites on the field are staffed by volunteers handing out Sharpies to all comers, and they keep coming and coming. “It shows the intensity of feeling on this issue,” said AOPA President Phil Boyer as he arrived at AOPA’s big yellow tent on Thursday afternoon. “We’ve already filled up one petition, with 4,700 names, and a second one will be full by the end of today,” added Sue Walitsky, AOPA’s public-relations director. Boyer said he’s hopeful that Congress will have worked out a position on the issue within the next few weeks. Since the current FAA authorization bill expires September 30, some kind of new plan needs to be in place by then. “We’re just in Round 3 or 4 of a 10-round fight,” he told AVweb, “and we’re a bit bloodied, but in better shape than I thought we’d be.”
He added that AOPA is not opposed to change: “The current tax has been in place since 1993, but there is no need for user fees in any segment of aviation.”
