Another prominent airline-industry executive has joined Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson in the call for higher fees for general aviation. In anopinion piece, Jim May, president and CEO of the Air Transport Association, claims GA accounts for 40 percent of the flights handled by FAA centers and 69 percent of tower work but contributes only 2 percent of the revenue (through gasoline tax) needed to keep the systems operating. "The fees general aviation operators pay today don't even come close to covering the costs of the federal aviation services they receive," May wrote. About two months ago, Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson shared similar views with the captive audience reading the airline's in-flight magazine. However, while Anderson's opinions grew from a dispute with the Metropolitan Airports Commission over the subsidization of GA airports from money earned (a large proportion of it Northwest's) at Minneapolis-St. Paul International, May's comments are broadly based and aimed at GA in general. "Each user should pay its fair share," he wrote. May doesn't say what that fair share is and how it might be collected but he's sure to hear about his comments from the alphabets.
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Another prominent airline-industry executive has joined Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson in the call for higher fees for general aviation. In an
