A Conservative Reform for Federal Aviation Administration Programs

[Geee]

Human Events:

Jim DeMint has long had the right idea.

 

If we want to fix infrastructure, return control of infrastructure spending to the states. Quit laundering the money through agencies in Washington and letting unelected, unaccountable and unfamiliar bureaucrats make spending decisions.

 

When DeMint served in the Senate, back before he before he became president of The Heritage Foundation, he introduced the Transportation Empowerment Act . The bill basically stands for the proposition that instead of using money from Texas taxpayers to pay for mass transit projects in Massachusetts, let Massachusetts buy its transit system and Texans buy their highways.

Congress is gearing up to consider reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. And some are suggesting it consider a similar approach for air transportation. The U.S. Travel Association has laid out a plan that would cut a variety of fees and surcharges on airline tickets but allow airports to raise the Passenger Facility Charge from $4.50 to $8.50 and permanently adjust the cap for inflation.

What this means in the real world is the big pot of money Washington doles out to airports for repairs, upgrades, expansion and safety improvements largely would dry up. But the pot of money controlled by local airports for use on expansion, safety improvements and – most importantly, considering recent allegations of collusion among major American airlines – enhancing competition would grow.