FAA Funding and General Aviation Taxing?

Question

New legislation may be coming into effect soon that will make the cost of general aviation so high that almost no one will be able to earn a pilots license or do anything related to general aviation. As I skydiver this is very concerning to me. My sport is having a hard time getting new members because of costs. This bill would not only make skydiving much more expensive but it would make all other general aviation activities very expensive as well.

The gist of the new legislation would be to decrease the amount of money the government spends on aviation and put the cost for aviation on the public. This is for all aviation! Not just general, your plane ticket to see grandma at the holidays will be going up too.

What do you think about this issue?

I'm biased. I don't wait to have the costs go up anymore and keep me on the ground.

Please look at this site for more information about the issue:

http://www.aopa.org/faafundingdebate/index.html

Answer 1

Aviation fees must not be increased because the present rates are already exorbitant.

Answer 2

The Sport Pilot license is all about lowering the health standards so that the older, more affluent pilots can keep on flying.

There was a video that showed Meig's Field in Chicago being bulldozed by order of the mayor.  Airports are often not well-liked for reasons I don't completely understand.  

General aviation airports only benefit a small minority of people.  The majority who may be jealous and who don't like the noise (unless they are on an airplane) would love to get rid of them.  I don't really understand that, but here we are.

I dunno, the overall answer might be that we are descending from the Golden Age of cheap energy and freedom.  When I say freedom, I simply mean the freedom to have or do something without people always trying to shut everything down on us.

Answer 3

The money is needed to upgrade to modern equipment for air traffic control, and the upgrade is a good thing for everyone.  The question is how to generate the money for the upgrade.  The Best choice between all the proposals so far is House Bill HR 2881.  Once the new system is up and running it should reduce the time it takes to get from point a to point b, reduce delay times, and offer increased air safety as well.