Page 54 - Volume 15 Number 9

NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION • focus
NBAA Continues Fight to Uphold BARR for Privacy, Security, Competitiveness
An outpouring of concern from the aviation All these individuals and organizations
community, business organizations and
privacy-rights groups has been lodged in response to a Department of Transportation (DOT) policy to severely curtail the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program.
Groups as diverse as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, Center for Democracy and Technology and American Civil Liberties Union have weighed in on the DOT’s plan. The near- universal concern is that imposing strict limits on the BARR would essentially deny airplane operators the option to “opt out” of having their flights tracked and broadcast online to anyone with an Internet connection.
Members of Congress have also weighed in, with letters from 33 lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives and 26 U.S. Senators going to DOT Secretary Ray LaHood asking that the plan for overhaul of the BARR be halted. In early August, as the DOT plan went into effect, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) introduced legislation to preserve the BARR on the grounds that limiting the program to only those who could prove a “valid security concern” serves no overriding public interest.
52 • TWIN & TURBINE
SEPTEMBER 2011
agree with the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) on the need to restore the privacy, safety and security of aviation movements, which had been assured since the early 1990s under BARR program. More than 2,000 companies and individuals sent comments or signed NBAA’s online petition opposing the change.
Many NBAA owner-operators expressed their personal concerns to federal officials, including Brad Pierce, who flies a Cirrus SR22 in support of his family’s Florida-based business, Restaurant Equipment WorldTM. “My company’s competitive edge is at stake,” he says. “Having a blocked tail number keeps competitors from knowing where I’m going, and what major customer I am visiting when I land at a convenient airport near their corporate offices.
Pierce adds: “Can you imagine the public outcry if companies were required to put GPS tracking devices on their vehicles, all available for public view with nothing but an internet browser? That’s essentially what they want to do with business aircraft.”
Separately, NBAA and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) are challenging the government’s plan in court. The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) also has filed a friend of the court brief supporting the suit. A full hearing on the matter has yet to occur, but it expected soon.
Both in court and on Capitol Hill, NBAA will continue to support the restoration of the BARR. Twin & Turbine owner-operators are encouraged to join us as well. NBAA and AOPA have established a legal defense fund to support the court fight. A web site for the fund provides an easy, convenient way to contribute toward this important cause. m