Page 24 - Volume 18 Number 1

NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION • focus
Working to Continue Growing Support for Business Aviation in 2014
Without question, the general aviation the largest, most bipartisan caucus in Congress,
community experienced its share
of challenges last year, ranging from proposed tower closures under budget sequestration, to the actual closure of the FAA Aircraft Registry Office during the government shutdown last October.
However, 2013 also demonstrated many encouraging signs of the strong support that GA, including business aviation, enjoy on local, state and national venues, and NBAA and other groups are working to continue building that support as this year gets underway.
For example, with NBAA’s enthusiastic support, one of the strongest and most powerful caucuses on Capitol Hill, the General Aviation (GA) Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, achieved a record 223 members last September – a majority of lawmakers in that congressional chamber – demonstrating the unprecedented level of support for the industry’s vital role in serving citizens, companies and communities across the United States. Along with its companion caucus in the Senate, the House GA Caucus informs debates about policy proposals that could affect the industry.
In a press release issued upon reaching the milestone, House GA Caucus co-chair Sam Graves (R-6-MO) called the new membership total, “A great victory for general aviation, [which] carries 166 million passengers to around 5,000 communities over 27 million flight hours each year, and more than two-thirds of these flights are for business purposes.”
Graves’s GA Caucus Co-chair, Rep. John Barrow (D-12-GA), agreed, adding: “This is
and I’m honored to join with my colleagues to continue to advocate for this industry.”
NBAA wholeheartedly agrees with Reps. Graves and Barrow, and in 2014, the association looks forward to continuing its work to help the GA Caucus co-Chairs and their colleagues grow the group and inform its work.
In 2013, we also saw tremendous support for the industry at the state level – governors from a raft of states across the country signed proclamations officially recognizing the value of general aviation, and today, 49 states have done so. From Arizona to Wyoming; from Yuba City, CA to Bolingbrook, IL; over the past year, more than 25 governors and other local officials have issued declarations of days, weeks, and months highlighting the industry’s contributions to their states and communities. This positive trend will continue in 2014, with some states signing proclamations for the third, and even fourth years in a row.
Additionally, we know that support for business aviation at the state level hasn’t been simply limited to the governors’ offices. For example, last month, industry advocates in the Pacific Northwest applauded the formation of
22 • TWIN & TURBINE JANUARY 2014