DAVE HIGDON / WICHITA
GA growth in the USA is at risk from proposals following the terrorist attack aimed at permanently restricting access to pilot training
Fears are spreading within general aviation circles in the USA that free-form, open-enrolment flight training could become a long-term casualty of the terrorist attacks of 11 September.
Proposals to restrict flight training are floating around at several levels of the US Government, with sources as diverse as security officials in the executive branch and lawmakers in the legislative branch - urged on by some non-governmental associations outside the aviation community.
General aviation groups quickly rallied against these proposals, many issuing sharp rebukes to suggestions such as banning Federal Aviation Regulations Part 91 operations from "within 100 miles [160 km] of cities and potential terrorist targets".
They are also frustrated that calls for restricting access to pilot training could undo five years of efforts to rekindle pilot growth that had shown signs of success in the months before the attacks. General aviation had been enjoying a return of annual new-student start numbers to above the 100,000 mark from a low of about 56,000 in the mid-1990s.
The GA community's self-funded Be-A-Pilot promotion drew more than 28,000 responses in 2001 up to 1 September, says Drew Steketee, Be-A-Pilot president, a rate 2.7% ahead of last year. For the first six months, responses ran almost 10% ahead of the same period last year.
Jobs at risk
Now, however, both the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) and the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) warn that continued flight restrictions could push hundreds of flight-training operations - in many cases part of a fixed-base operator (FBO) - to extinction. The closure of FBOs and flight schools would force thousands of independent instructors out of work.
As of three weeks after the attacks, hundreds of flight-training aircraft remained effectively grounded by virtue of their home fields' continued closure - because of the airport's location inside one of the dozens of areas where temporary flight restrictions (TFR) remain in effect.
According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), prohibitions against visual flight rules (VFR) flights within the "enhanced" boundary of all 30 Class B airspace zones has "trapped" as many as 41,000 aircraft. Even more are intermittently affected when TFRs go into effect within three miles of large sports arenas and entertainment gatherings. Local FAA controllers have interpreted the restrictions to include events as large as football games, motor racing and concert venues and as small as airport fly-ins.
Several thousand more aircraft are either grounded or operating from non-home field locations because of the continued total closure of airports within the boundaries of two TFRs that encompass both the World Trade Center and Pentagon sites - within a 25nm (45km) radius of JFK and DCA VOR navigation beacons.
Flight schools remain grounded at airports such as College Park Airport (CGS) and Montgomery County Airpark (GAI) in Maryland, and at Teterboro (TEB), New Jersey, and Republic (FRG) in New York.
US congressman Robin Hayes says losses by the nation's 2,500 flight schools approached $245 million during the two weeks following 11 September - for 12 days of which all flight instruction and all other VFR flying was banned from the nation's airspace system.
More than two weeks into the restrictions, the losses of general aviation businesses - including flight schools - approached $500 million, say sources including AOPA and National Business Aviation Association.
Grounded
Up to 10,000 college students enrolled in professional-track flight-instruction programmes were grounded completely for nearly two weeks, as were another 20,000 student pilots receiving instruction from small schools and independent certificated flight instructors (CFIs). Restrictions remain for many of them and both the flow of new students and the training pace of current students have remained below the levels prior to 11 September.
Still, as flight schools work to return to normal activity levels, concerns are shifting toward two other areas: finding a way to survive financially in the aftermath of the shutdown and restricted flight access; and fighting long-term proposals that could permanently handicap flight schools and threaten the long-term viability of general aviation.
"There is real damage being done to the industry and there is a confidence problem regarding all aviation within the general public that needs to be addressed," says Tom Poberezny, head of the Experimental Aircraft Association and its affiliate, NAFI. He adds: "The economic damage to flight training and general aviation support infrastructure is significant and devastating." NAFI says that indefinitely continuing the existing flight restrictions could doom 30-40% of the nation's flight-instruction capacity.
Four weeks ago, the most pressing issue of flight instruction was a shortage of CFIs amid signs of success in increasing pilot numbers.
Today, community concerns focus on potential long-term restrictions proposed by security experts and legislators. For example, at least two bills introduced into the US House of Representatives would require current and potential student pilots to pay for a background check on themselves. The information would go to the CIA and FBI before the student could obtain a student-pilot licence.
In one version, HR 2957, the FAA would be required to deny applications from prospects deemed "a security threat" by the administrator. GA voices oppose the idea and say it is the responsibility of the State Department and other agencies to screen for undesirable aliens and block their entry. AOPA president Phil Boyer warned Congress that the legislation as written would penalise "an entire industry that has no direct responsibility for who is allowed to enter the country".
He went on to say: "The financial burden of a background check will cause many with an interest in learning to fly to simply not try at all." He added that AOPA would "be pleased to work with you on proposals to enhance the procedures of the government agencies that allowed terrorists to enter the country and enroll in flight training".
Says Poberezny: "Flight schools have no direct responsibility for who is allowed to enter the country. Forcing student pilots to pay for background checks will make it harder to bring legitimate flight students into the system. Who decides where the line is of who is qualified for flight training? If there is a false accusation, what redress is possible?"
Meanwhile, although many restrictions on flight instruction have been lifted, other restrictions remain and VFR access to airports inside TFR areas remain banned as Flight International went to press. That means some flight schools may go under.
General aviation-run flight schools are now the main supplier of pilots for all levels of professional flying apart from the military. Anything that hurts these schools threatens the supply of pilots-for-hire.
While airline cutbacks and pilot furloughs may ease demand in the short term, long-term forecasts still anticipate the demand for pilots exceeding supply. In the long term, decimating flight-school ranks would deepen any shortage.
GA industry leaders hope to convince Congress to provide their businesses with financial relief modelled on the $15 billion package passed on behalf of the commercial airline industry.
Rescue package
AOPA's General Aviation Flight School Federal Aid Recovery Plan includes:
Immediate grants consisting of expense reimbursement payments to all qualified general aviation flight schools grounded by FAA orders that were issued on or after 11 September 2001; Each grant should at least equal all business revenue losses directly due to flight restrictions imposed on 11 September, less any directly related "business interruption" insurance payment made to the recipient; The estimate for the total amount of grants is $250 million for every 14-day period. This is based on an industry estimate of 3,500 flight schools losing an average of $5,000 per day; Short/intermediate-term, no-interest as well as long-term, low-interest loans and temporary relief from obligations on any loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration; Temporary relief from any Federal excise taxes or other federal fees incurred in the course of running an aviation businesses.AOPA's proposal charges the Federal Emergency Management Agency with administering the relief programme.
Despite the quick action of Congress on behalf of the airline industry, work on relief for general aviation businesses has barely moved. "Something has to be done," Poberezny told Congress,"and soon."
Source: Flight International
