Washington, DC

NBAA joins coalition supporting House ATC-Modernization Plan, underscored in association’s own letter

The National Business Aviation Association joined with more than 50 other industry stakeholders in strong support of a House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) legislative proposal, introduced on Tuesday (29th April), for funding critical investments in national air traffic control (ATC) technology, infrastructure and workforce.

The Modern Skies coalition, comprised of NBAA and other national and international aviation associations, trade unions, manufacturers and others, emphatically stated such investments - detailed in the T&I Committee’s proposal - are needed to ensure the United States remains “the gold standard” for aviation safety.

“As stakeholders from across the aviation industry, we have sounded the alarm for decades about the challenges created by aging technology and infrastructure, as well as the controller and technician staffing shortages,” the coalition’s statement noted. “The committee’s approach is a much-needed downpayment on achieving these benefits for the Americans who fly and ship goods every day.

“We look forward to working with policymakers to augment this legislation based on a comprehensive proposal from the Department of Transportation to increase investments in these key areas and implement procurement reform that ensures performance and accountability,” the coalition’s statement continued. “We urge the House to pass these provisions and will continue our engagement with the Senate as they look to work on this effort as well, ensuring these critical issues are addressed and sent to the president for his signature.”

Separately, NBAA has sent its own letter from association President and CEO Ed Bolen to House T&I Chairman Sam Graves (R-8-MO) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-2-WA) reaffirming the association’s support for the committee’s proposal, and reiterating the importance of a robust aviation system for connecting the citizens, companies and communities that rely on business aviation – an industry that supports 1.3 million American jobs and helps generate $340 billion in economic output.

“The wide-ranging benefits of business aviation in the US are made possible only by our country’s ATC system infrastructure, dedicated workforce and continuous improvement based on data-driven safety initiatives,” Bolen wrote.

“We commend the committee for recognizing the importance of improving ATC infrastructure and strengthening the controller workforce to improve safety and efficiency in the national airspace system.”