Op-Ed: FAA Laws and the AIRR Act, Leonard Luciano, Essex County Freeholder

Editor's Note: The following op-ed article comes courtesy of Essex County District 4 Freeholder Leonard Luciano, a Livingston native and West Caldwell resident who represents districts in Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Fairfield, Livingston, Millburn, North Caldwell, Roseland, Verona, West Caldwell and West Orange. The following viewpoints are not necessarily endorsed by Patch.

By Leonard Luciano

"FAA reauthorization legislation currently under consideration by our U.S. Congress contains much needed upgrades to the nation’s Air Traffic Control (ATC) system. The Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act will provide technology improvements benefiting consumers and the economy here in New Jersey while enhancing safety and efficiency in air travel.

The AIRR Act will create a federally chartered, independent entity tasked with overseeing and managing the country’s ATC system. Safety will remain under the FAA’s purview where it belongs. This restructuring will allow us to fully deploy satellite based NextGen technology, helping to significantly reduce flight delays and cancellations while offering more direct flights that will lower fuel consumption and carbon emissions. This model will also guarantee that ATC funding can never again be used as a political football during congressional budget standoffs as it will instead receive its financial support from system users. This is an approach that has seen success in more than 50 countries around the world. 

These modernizations will give our ATC system the stability and technology it needs to thrive, which only stands to benefit our airports in Fairfield, Morristown, Teterboro, Newark, Trenton, and Atlantic City. Yet there are opponents of this legislation who are content with the status quo and are fighting vigorously to stop this bill in its tracks. We cannot let a few special interests stand in the way of progress.

The AIRR Act’s primary opposition is the “one percent” of people who can afford to travel the country on corporate jets. Accounting for nearly 9 percent of the country’s flights, corporate jets use the same ATC resources and technology as the commercial planes that carry millions of passengers each day. Often flying in inclement weather and operating on time sensitive schedules, corporate jets compete with commercial aviation for ATC resources and equipment. Corporate jets would of course also have access to the ATC technological upgrades that are part of the AIRR Act.

The problem is that these privileged few have been exploiting an aviation excise tax loophole that has resulted in corporate jets paying far less than their fair share. It is estimated that in 2013 alone corporate jets cost the ATC system $1 billion, roughly 10 percent of all ATC operating costs, but only paid $64 million into the trust fund. Passengers on commercial flights are left to pick up the tab for that enormous shortfall. Where is the fairness?

It’s no small wonder why corporate jets are opposed to altering the current system – an arrangement that unfairly leaves consumers on the hook for their air travel. What is puzzling is that corporate jets are against ATC reform even though it would not increase how much they pay into the system. Simply stated, they are standing in the way of progress for no apparent reason that I can figure.

As the corporate jet industry frantically attempts to save its cherished tax carve out, the nation’s ATC system continues to operate under strained conditions. A documented ATC staffing shortage and aging technology is placing a needless burden on the hardworking folks tasked with keeping our skies safe and efficient every day.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. I urge resident of New Jersey and specifically Essex County to reach out to our members of the New Jersey Congressional delegation, tell them to take a stand for consumers and support the AIRR Act so we can put an end to this archaic practice that is costing us money every time we and our families fly commercially.

We can no longer accept a system that favors corporate jets and prevents progress. ATC modernization will ensure America’s aviation industry is at the cutting edge when it comes to safety, conserving our planet by lowering fuel emissions, and well positioned to thrive in the years ahead."

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File photo: Essex County Freeholders