While two U.S. House General Aviation Caucus leaders called for moving forward on air traffic control reform, 15 general aviation organizations urged key lawmakers to provide time for all stakeholders to thoroughly review and debate such a proposal. The appeals come as the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee prepares to introduce comprehensive FAA reauthorization legislation that is expected to include a measure to create an independent air traffic control organization funded by new user fees. The committee is expected to take action on the legislation in mid-February.

Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), a House GA caucus co-chairman and staunch GA ally, co-wrote an opinion piece with another active caucus member, Todd Rokita (R-Ind.), saying, “A foundation of conservatism is our belief that the federal government is incapable of doing just about anything more efficiently or innovatively than the private sector.”

The opinion piece, titled “No reason to stall” and published by the political news organization The Hill, adds, “It is true that our nation’s airspace is complex, and also that our general aviation presence is the largest in the world. But that does not preclude us from designing an air traffic control organization that is superior to any system in existence today. To say it cannot be done is to challenge the very fiber of American ingenuity.” The lawmakers added that status quo is not working.

But in separate letters to T&I Committee leaders, organizations representing a cross-section of the general aviation community appealed for caution. “Because we have so much at stake in the FAA reauthorization process, and given the magnitude of the change that we anticipate being proposed, we call on you…to provide ample opportunity for all stakeholders and citizens to carefully review, analyze and debate any proposed legislation changing the governance and funding for air traffic control,” the industry letters said.

The GA groups expressed concern that some big airlines are pushing for a new governance and funding model based on international systems. “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,” they said. “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 U.S.”

In addition to creating another layer of bureaucracy to collect the user fees, the general aviation community has feared long-term access issues could result under an organization run by an independent board. The organizations have pointed to airports in Europe where that has been problematic.

T&I chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) is the primary driver of a proposal to create an independent, user-funded air traffic control organization, but the committee’s ranking Democrat, Pete DeFazio (D-Ore.), has expressed reservations about the system.