What’s at Issue Late last year, Congress held a series of hearings to determine whether the Big Three auto manufacturers, Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, warranted federal assistance due to their companies’ financial struggles. During one hearing, Members of Congress blasted the three testifying CEOs for using private aircraft to travel to the hearing when asking Congress for billions of dollars in federal assistance. As a result, provisions were included in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate bills that would have required companies receiving federal funding to divest themselves of corporate aircraft. While the legislation wasn’t passed in either chamber, the Bush administration released Troubled Asset Relief Act (TARP) funds from the U.S. Treasury to General Motors and Chrysler. The terms of the loan included provisions prohibiting the purchase or lease of private aircraft.
Why It’s Important The recently passed $787 billion economic stimulus package, in addition to the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Act of 2008 were passed to aid the ailing economy while sustaining or creating jobs. The decision by lawmakers to sever general aviation industry jobs advertently or inadvertently because the Big Three automakers flew corporate aircraft to Washington, D.C. for committee hearings has become a problem for the industry. Public perception is that general aviation or business aircraft are strictly luxury assets, contrary to the truth which is that general aviation plays a vital role in the state of the American economy. The general aviation industry must ban together to educate lawmakers and the public about the role it plays in our economy and remind them that we too are struggling amidst our nation’s ailing financial situation.
What to Do Contact your Members of Congress by visiting NATA’s Legislative Action Center. NATA’s Legislative Action Center provides association members with a quick and easy way to email letters directly to Members of Congress in their state. Click here to view the form letter or use the following talking points when speaking to Members of Congress or their staff:
General Aviation Facts :
NATA Position NATA strongly believes that its members must be outspoken on the benefits of general aviation. Unfortunate incidents have resulted in our need to speak out not only on the state of the industry during these troubling economic times, but also to describe the impact the industry has on our nation of which the public and even Congress may not be aware.
Status Continued efforts should be made to ensure a positive message is being circulated about the general aviation industry. There isn’t anyone better to help tackle this task than you!
Staff Contact: Kristen Moore Director, Legislative Affairs [email protected]