AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 20

WAYPOINTS

Maintaining the momentum

BY THOMAS B. HAINES
Editor in Chief

Riding the wave from 2017 into 2018

Editor in Chief
TOM HAINES has
been covering the
general aviation
industry for more
than three decades.

ABOUT THE TIME I was writing last month's column
detailing our flights in support of the Florida Keys after
Hurricane Irma ("Waypoints: Nooks and Crannies,"
November 2017 AOPA Pilot), Hurricane Maria was
bearing down on the Caribbean and creating a humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico. Again, general aviation was
called into action. Airplanes that could make the long
overwater trip flew supplies in and brought survivors
out. As I write this, the challenges continue unabated
for Patient Airlift Services (PALS), AEROBridge, and
other organizations. But, as it always does in such circumstances, general aviation shows up and helps out,
mostly with little fanfare.
Undoubtedly when looking back at 2017, the major
hurricanes will be among the news media's Top 10 biggest stories of the year. And general aviation's role in
providing assistance will not be forgotten. From a
GA perspective, the year had many highs and lows.
Certainly, a high note was the May 1 implementation of BasicMed. Just six months later, more than
20,000 pilots are now flying under the revised medical procedure that allows those flying light airplanes
for recreation to visit their personal physician for a
signoff of their fitness to fly. With that a pilot needs to
complete a free AOPA online course about health and
flying, and tuck the completion certificate and doctor's signoff into a logbook in case it is needed. There is
no need to send anything to the FAA. Your health status stays between you and your physician, as it should.
The new provision is not a solution for all, but it is
a compromise that provides many pilots-particularly
those with a need for ongoing special issuances-a
much simpler path to the cockpit while still maintaining pilot health. Most important, nothing is taken away.
Those for whom a third class medical process makes
more sense still have that option.
A not-so-high point was the passage in June by the
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
of H.R. 2997, legislation to "privatize" air traffic control, handing billions of dollars in infrastructure and
influence to a nonprofit board that will ultimately be
controlled by the airlines, their unions, and large commercial airports. You can imagine where that will leave
general aviation and small, rural airports-and the communities that depend on them. But just as with the call
for help after the hurricanes, general aviation rallied. At
the urging of AOPA and other organizations working in

20 | AOPA PILOT December 2017

Washington, D.C., pilots placed some 85,000 calls and
emails to members of Congress, urging them not to support the bill. The process drags on and, as I write this,
there is still not enough support in the House to bring
it to the floor for a vote. But proponents of the legislation, with enormous backing by the airlines, are using
the time to try to sway opponents. Even if you contacted
your representative on this issue, call him or her again
to remind them of your opposition. See the blue "ATC
'Privatization'" button at the top of AOPA's website for
details on why it matters to all of us.
Hopefully, 2017 will be seen as the year when general aviation pilots started the process to take back
control of publicly funded airports. Most airport owners
and FBOs do a great job of welcoming pilots of all types;
however, a small but growing number of locations see
access as a toll booth. If you want to park on the publicly
funded ramp, you must pay a fee-even if you don't need
any services. And, at some of these locations, it is not a
$5 fee. It can be $200 or more, as evidenced by the many
complaints AOPA has received this year. In response,
AOPA filed FAR Part 13 complaints at three locations,
asking the FAA to remind the airport sponsors at those
airports of their responsibility to ensure that the FBOs
there charge only reasonable fees-if any-for those just
wanting to land and exit the airport.
Since AOPA began focusing attention on this issue,
numerous airport owners have asked for assistance on
how they can make their airports more welcoming.
Among the options are identifying parking areas and
entry and exit points not controlled by the FBO. Other
options include introducing competition in the form
of another FBO, where it makes sense, or providing
self-service fuel controlled by someone other than the
dominant FBO. AOPA has also drafted guidelines airports can use when writing FBO requests for proposal
that include clauses requiring transparency around
pricing and fees. As with control of ATC, there's still
much to be done on this project.
We are not likely to see a complete resolution to
many of these issues even in 2018, but persistence
and perseverance by us all will keep momentum on
our side.
AOPA
EMAIL thomas.haines@aopa.org
SOCIAL

Follow on twitter @tomhaines29

AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017