The issue few care about, until....

Posted at 9:52 AM on September 1, 2006 by Bob Collins

Politicians are aghast this morning, trying to figure out why the heck the FAA violated policy and put only one air traffic controller in the tower overnight in Kentucky when there were supposed to be two.

According to an AP report...

In a letter dated Wednesday, Minnesota Rep. James L. Oberstar, the ranking Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Illinois Rep. Jerry F. Costello, ranking Democrat on the aviation subcommittee, asked the Transportation Department's acting inspector general to investigate how well the rule is being followed.

And now...the background of the story that nobody will report because, well, it's too hard.

The federal government levies a 19.4-cents-a-gallon tax on aviation gasoline used by piston-powered airplanes in this country and a 21.9-cents-per-gallon tax on JetA fuel used by the big boys.

When you buy a ticket, you pay a tax, and that money also goes into the Aviation Trust Fund, which was (and is) intended to provide the money to modernize the aviation system in this country.

Back around 2000, the House and Senate, H.R. 1000, or AIR-21, passed the House to move the money "off budget," so that the money could be spent on what it was intended to. However, when it went to the Senate, Sen. John McCain, then-Sen. Tom Daschle, and Sen. Trent Lott engineered a change, removing the provision that would have mandated the money be spent on its intended target. A battle ensued before the fund was finally reauthorized.

The administration has wanted to limit the expenditures to the FAA out of the general fund to 13-percent, and says the Trust Fund is no longer adequate because revenues declined, which they did in 2003 and 2004 (think recession and 9/11).

But according to the White House budget office, the trust fund could have a $4.2 billion surplus by 2011.

The airlines, meanwhile, as well as FAA administrator Marion Blakey, are anxious to impose user fees on all users of aviation, even though this money is available to fund the aviation system (Disclaimer: I'm a general aircraft pilot and have a horse in this race.). So those are the two sides facing off in what will be a major debate in the coming year: the aviation trust fund vs. user fees.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association says the funding crisis is manufactured.

According to the FAA’s own figures 2,580 controllers are eligible to retire between 2005 and 2007. But the agency only hired 13 air traffic controllers in fiscal year 2004. There simply aren’t enough controllers to meet the traffic demand today, and even fewer in the pipeline to replace those leaving in the coming years.

So what you have here is -- depending on whom you believe -- a fund that is (a) nearly depleted or (b) busting at the seams, and allegations that an administration and some congressmen have cooked the books to make the (a) scenario lead to user fees.

Who's right? That's the question that will be settled by the person you vote for for Congress or Senate in a couple of months. And after Sunday, we have a little better idea what's at stake.

Candidates for Congress have a pretty good idea what questions will come to them during a debate, so their answers are well rehearsed. But if you want to see one stutter and stammer (the exception being Rep. Jim Oberstar, one of the leading authority on aviation issues in Congress), try asking about this issue.

It's not a sexy topic, it's a little wonky, and the only time it matters to most people is when they're actually in an airplane. Politics is crazy like that.

Background: (Wonks only) NATCA on the Aviation Trust Fund.

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