In responses to an article published in the September 20 issue of AINalerts, AIN readers posted comments about user fees on AINonline.com:

•Working in the aviation industry for over 40 years, of which 25 were with the state of Michigan’s Bureau of Aeronautics, I had many occasions to deal with public and privately owned airports and corporate flight operations.

One of the more interesting stories (of many) was that of Genova Products of Davison, Mich. They were the developers of PVC pipe. In a telephone conversation many years ago with the CEO and founder, he related to me the difficulty in establishing their product as a standard in the plumbing and housing industry. It was necessary to achieve acceptance by the multitude of governmental agencies across the country, especially those establishing building codes.

To achieve this necessary objective, they purchased a [Mitsubishi] MU-2 and even built their own airport (Davison, Genova Airport). They then undertook the scheduling, pick-up and transporting the many township and state officials across the country (by air out of their local airports) to the Genova manufacturing and testing facility and established an acceptance and code by which PVC pipe has become a standard nationwide. Would anybody care to speculate the financial impact this company has had on the U.S.by virtue of the company airplane and the many local GA airports and FBOs? It should be blatantly clear what the entrepreneurial spirit and the company airplane contributed to our country and its economy.– John Wagner

•I know FBOs that charge what they call “facility fees” that rival what the government wants to do. Believe me, greed kills. Once-thriving airport traffic drops dramatically and does not rebound. Pilots will route around the airports with the “buy fuel or pay us” policies. Government fees on top on this will kill general aviation.–Richard (no last name provided)

•Which government nutcase dreamed this up? Is there a mastermind that wants to destroy others for their own greed? What is the government thinking? Especially in these current hard times, they want more money from the little people. This “user fee” will increase unemployment without a doubt!–Dean (no last name provided)