The price of tickets has definately increased with the price of fuel. Why ask for another increase in fees at a time like this!!!!

Mike
Your e-mail really bothers me and needs to be stopped immediately until you understand who and what the FAA AIP fund does entirely across the United States for Airports.
Without these funds that you think are foolish we could not have afforded the improvements that the FAA has granted our private airport Sky Acers. We have gotten FAA sponsorship for New Runways, Taxiways, GPS Approaches, Ramps & Engineering to name a few. Without these "Subsidized Funds" our family would have no choice other than to ask the 90+ airplanes and four businesses at our airport to leave. Is that what you want another closed Private Airport and more houses?
In the future why don't you channel your e-mail/web efforts in a campaign in fighting Airway User Fees a true and required effort by ALL Aviation Professionals and Enthusiasts?

it's not just about the cost. My friend made these points to me:
For years the FAA has been trying to encourage pilots to make more Pilot Reports, use Flight Following and improve their ATC Comms skills. Now instead of talking with ATC, pilots will be avoiding them.

- Less Pilot Reports means less information available to other pilots flying cross country.

- Pilots not using Flight Following will prevent controllers from knowing who will be arriving in their airspace and when.

- Pilots will also skud run and fly below Class B and Class C airspace….so not only will they be low and slow but also unidentified.

Here's a great post from Trey S. in Huntsville, Alabama:
Remember the argument the airlines are making that basically says that they are saddled with the vast majority of the costs to run the ATC system. If they are trying to make things "fair" then shouldn't the GA industry as a whole get a 20 billion dollar bail out like the airlines did? That money had to come from somewhere, like our pockets, and the extra taxes we now pay for airline tickets. I mean if fair is fair then we should be treated fairly also. Might reduce the extremely high cost of purchasing, maintaining, and operating GA aircraft.

Also how about some extra liability protection for aircraft manufacturers. I don't know the exact number but I thought at one time I heard that as much as 20% of the cost of an aircraft is from liability insurance. Over 40K extra for a new 172 with no value to the customer, not fair.

Lastly from talking to "old timers" I found out that up to a couple of years before all of GA stopped producing aircraft (1986) the cost of flight training was 2/3 aircraft 1/3 flight instructor. Basically the aircraft cost double what you paid your flight instructor. Using new aircraft we charge 4 times the instructor cost to rent aircraft. That is the biggest burden on GA right now. Any additional fees and the current rate of training new pilots is going to get worse. I don't want to raise prices. We endured Katrina without raising our prices in the hope that fuel prices went down and they did. If a new fuel tax was introduced I couldn't avoid it and the increase would keep some people home.

Just my thoughts pass it along if you would like,
Trey Stinson
GM
Huntsville Flight Center

Congress did not make this proposal, FAA did not make this proposal, the Bush Administration made this proposal. Bush has pledged and campaigned for user fees and FAA privatization since before the first time he was elected. This is simply one more attack on the little guy in favor of big business (the airlines) by this administration and the Republicans. If you voted for Bush, you're getting what you asked for.

Thanks for getting this started Mike. I am working to get our local pilots to contact our members of Congress. I think pilots are beginning to grasp that this threat is the real deal but we have a lot that still need convincing.