AST 205 Chapter 1 Notes

Home Previous Next Help FBO What does FBO stand for? Fixed Based Operator How did that term originate? Originated from the early Barnstorming days of aviation Post WWI. What services to FBO’s offer? –Fuel sales, repair/maintenance/alteration, aircraft storage, rental, instruction, air taxi/freight, pilot supplies, sales, etc.

Home Previous Next Help What’s happening to FBO’s approximately 12,000 FBO’s in US approx. 10, approx. 4,300 Today- 4,800 – 5,200 approx.- projected to remain the same or decline slightly

Home Previous Next Help What are some examples of Larger Chain FBO’s in the US? Raytheon Aircraft Services Bombardier Mercury Air Centers Signature Flight Support Million Air Others?

Home Previous Next Help Reason’s for FBO Decline in numbers Onset of Jets- starting in the 1960’s – 1970’s Economic cycles- recession in 1970’s and 1980’s More competition for free time Expense- Why? –Liability issue- 18K deliveries in 1978, approx. 900 in 1993 –Production costs –Increased complexity- Technology, airspace –Progressive communities demand better service

Home Previous Next Help Currently Moderate Growth- Why? –Deliveries are up –Hiring is up –VLJ’s –Sport pilot initiative –1994 General Aviation Product Liability Reform Act –Deregulation- concentrated traffic at hubs

Home Previous Next Help Some Statistics Commercial airlines serve only 5% of public-use airports General Aviation is the exclusive user of 90% of these airports 281 large U.S. airports handle virtually all passenger traffic 25% of travelers board at the 5 largest airports Air carriers (121) compose about 2.2% of the civil aircraft fleet but make up 35% of the civil hours flown

Home Previous Next Help Statistics Continued Of the approx. 19,000 landing facilities in the U.S.- only 5,000 – 6,000 are for public use and roughly ½ of those are privately owned. Of the remaining half (roughly 3,000) these airports are classified into the NPIAS- National Plan for an Integrated Airspace System as: –Large Hub- i.e. Chicago O’Hare –Medium Hub- Cincinnati- (comair) –Small Hub- Louisville, Evansville –Non-Hub- South Bend –G.A. reliever- 25,000 – 35,000 operations per year such as Indy Mt. Comfort/Executive –Others- Sullivan County

Home Previous Next Help NPIAS Airports All publicly owned and public-use airports and some private airports if they are public- use and not located too close to another NPIAS airport Projects include: –Runway maintenance/construction –Hangar construction –Approach/Nav. Aids –Others

Home Previous Next Help Why is the fight for local airports important? We lose an average of more than one airport per week in the U.S. Airports are increasingly under attack from the NIMBY crowd More industries are being built in rural America

Home Previous Next Help How is the Aviation System Funded? Federal Airport and Airways Trust Fund- congress authorizes it’s use every few years FAA operating budget- $14 Billion Dollars in 2006 Trust Fund Makes up 75% of that; the remaining 25% comes from the General Fund of Taxpayer revenues Sadly- User Fees are on the Horizon

Home Previous Next Help How is the Trust Fund Funded Currently? Commercial Passenger Tax- 10% of all tickets sold General Aviation Fuel Tax cents per gallon of AVGas- 21.9% cents per gallon of jet fuel (Part of the G.A. fuel tax- 4.3 cents per gallon has beed traditionally diverted to reduce the federal deficit- this was stopped about 4 years ago by the AIR21 Legislation)

Home Previous Next Help FAA Trust Fund Funding Ctn. Air Cargo Tax- 6.25% tax (a.k.a. freight waybill tax) International Departure Tax- $6 per person per trip.

Home Previous Next Help Why G.A. likes the current funding System Directly Related to System Use Easy and Inexpensive to Collect Easy to Pay Does not impact safety as user fees would Accepted to the taxpayer

Home Previous Next Help The Future of G.A. User Fees Sport Pilot Growth VLJ Growth Alternative Fuels Noise Reduction Increased Crashworthiness More Intuitive Avionics Influx of new designs from around the globe

Home Previous Next Help Thank you- Questions?