On Tuesday, January 26, a coalition calling itself “Americans Against Air Traffic Privatization” (AAATP) was announced by Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), both of whom sit on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) which has jurisdiction over the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The coalition was created, as the name suggests, to oppose the privatization of FAA’s air traffic control (ATC). Moving ATC to the private sector is the major provision expected in T&I Chairman Bill Shuster’s FAA reauthorization bill, set to be released in early February.

Just two days later, on Jan. 28, leaders of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee sent a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee stating "It does not make sense to break apart the FAA, an essential part of our success in aviation." And while the language of the bill has yet to be released, The Senate Appropriations committee and the AAATP is part of a larger movement opposing changes to ATC.

NAAA signed onto a letter in mid-January, along with 14 other general aviation associations, stating “The general aviation community has very real and long-standing concerns about foreign air traffic control models, which go well beyond the user fee issue. These concerns are based on our operating experiences in foreign systems, as well as thoughtful analysis about what those systems might look like in the United States.” But until we know exactly what Chairman Shuster’s bill looks like, we won’t know how the FAA reauthorization will impact agricultural aviators.

Similarly, until the FAA reauthorization language is shared with stakeholders, NAAA won’t know whether or not tower-marking provisions, UAV-safety requirement provisions, or user fee exemptions for agricultural aviators have been included in the final bill. Since an FAA reauthorization is required for FAA to receive funds after Mar. 31, 2016, the aforementioned provisions are likely to become law if they’re included in this bill. If they’re left out, however, it will be near-impossible to get these provisions to the President’s desk for signature. That’s why NAAA is using its D.C.-based resources wisely in an attempt to guarantee that tower marking, UAV-safety requirements, and user fee exemptions are all included in the FAA reauthorization.

With the first draft of the reauthorization expected to become public in early February, keep an eye out for an NAAA update then.