According to the IRS and FAA, taxes levied on General Aviation provide 8.6% of the total revenue for the Airport and Airway Trust Fund.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

A side-by-side comparison of the existing fuel taxes funding mechanism vs. the proposed user fees funding mechanism clearly shows why fuel taxes are a more simple and efficient way of collecting revenues.

 

Kenneth Mead, former Inspector General of the Department of Transportation, forecasts that not only will the Aircraft and Airways Trust Fund increase in revenues, but that the expected revenue will be enough to cover the anticipated costs of modernizing the air traffic control system.

 

 

The actual amount of money needed to modernize the air traffic control system, according to the FAA’s own projections, is just a sliver of the FAA’s annual budget – approximately 3-8%.

 

A comparison of average annual hours flown per year shows that commercial airlines fly 10 times as much as General Aviation turbine aircraft.

A review of annual tower-directed operations by General Aviation aircraft shows that GA aircraft are in fact decreasing their use of the air traffic control system.