We should find out today just what all the FAAs political maneuvering and posturing of the past year or so were intended to do as the Bush administration releases its 2008 budget request. Somewhere in those trillions of dollars is the governments plan to reshape the way the FAA is funded, and it has aviation groups on pins and needles. Its pretty obvious from the way FAA Administrator Marion Blakey has been talking in the past 18 months that some form of user-fee system will be proposed, and thats sure to dominate the political agendas of the alphabet groups this year. The authorization for the system of taxes that currently funds about 75 percent of the FAAs budget (25 percent comes from general revenue) runs out at the end of September and, since the budget being released today kicks in at the same time, it should paint a clear picture of how the FAA wants to change the funding methods. The airlines have been lobbying hard for a pay-as-you-go system of user fees that is estimated to shift about $2 billion of cost to general aviation. General aviation groups claim the current system of fuel, ticket and cargo taxes accurately reflects a fair funding split because most GA flights happen outside the highly congested airline hubs that suck up a disproportionate amount of the FAAs time and money.
FAA Budget Details Today
Key Takeaways:
- The Bush administration's 2008 budget will propose a new funding structure for the FAA, likely transitioning from the current tax-based system to a user-fee model.
- The current authorization for the FAA's funding (75% from aviation taxes) expires in September, making this budget a critical determinant of the agency's future financial system.
- Airlines are lobbying for a user-fee system, estimating it would shift $2 billion in costs to general aviation, while GA groups argue the existing fuel, ticket, and cargo taxes are fair given their lower use of congested airline-centric FAA resources.
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