Brownback Defends General Aviation Industry

Press Release

BROWNBACK DEFENDS GENERAL AVIATION INDUSTRY

Says Kansas, national economy benefit from industry

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today responded to recent attacks on business use of private planes.

"It's time to cool the overheated rhetoric on the use of business aviation," said Brownback. "The general aviation industry is already feeling the effects of the economic downturn; it shouldn't be grounded by the government. In the current economic situation, we should encourage measures which spur business growth and job creation, not punish general aviation. Any heavy-handed legislation to curtail the growth of general aviation will only deepen and prolong the current economic distress. I will continue to fight against any measure that negatively impacts the use of general aviation aircraft or limits the ability to utilize these aircraft to grow business opportunities."

Business aircraft allow small- and medium-sized business employees to conveniently travel long-distances to meet with customers and suppliers and to oversee manufacturing and operation centers. Business aviation provides a direct route to numerous locations that commercial aviation does not provide. There are 5,000 airports nationwide, but only 500 are served by commercial airlines.

Brownback continued, "Time is money; general aviation saves time and increases productivity. Using general aviation, flight times are reduced significantly and there are not the long waits associated with commercial airport security or waiting at terminals for delayed flights. In many cases, even travel time to the airport is reduced when flying general aviation because a lot of businesses are not located near a major, commercial airport. General aviation greatly increases efficiency on and off the ground."

The general aviation industry annually contributes $150 billion to U.S. economy, employs 1.2 million people and is a major export driver with 40% of the production going overseas.

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