ATA Letter to Senate Transportation Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee on NextGen Funding

Commercial aviation helps drive more than 10M American jobs and 5 cents of every dollar of U.S. GDP
Commercial aviation drives more than $1 trillion per year in economic activity
In 2012, U.S. airlines moved more than 48,000 tons of cargo per day
In 2012, the value of a kilogram of U.S. merchandise exported by air averaged 121 times the value exported by sea
For every 100 airline jobs, some 360 are supported outside of the airline industry
Federal taxes constitute $61 – or 20% – of the price of a typical $300 domestic round-trip ticket
In 2011, U.S. airlines carried 16 percent more passengers and cargo using 10 percent less fuel than in 2000
Domestically, airlines drive 5% of economic activity but account for 2% of man-made GHG emissions
From 2000-2011, airlines reduced GHG emissions by 11% while transporting 16% more passengers and cargo
From 1975-2011, U.S. airlines and their partners reduced significant noise exposure by 99%
Commercial air travel is the safest form of intercity transportation in the United States
In the most recent decade, scheduled air service on U.S. airlines was seven times safer than in the 1970s
From 2000-2012, U.S. airlines improved the on-time arrival rate from 72.6% to 81.9%
From 2000-2012, U.S. airlines reduced the flight cancellation rate sharply from 3.30% to 1.29%
Airfares are a bargain: From 2000-2012, U.S. CPI rose 33% while average domestic fare rose just 14%
Adjusted for inflation, the average round-trip domestic airfare fell 15% from 2000
2007 domestic flight delays cost the United States approximately $31 billion
In 2012, the value of U.S. merchandise exported by air reached an all-time high of $427B
In 2012, U.S. exports of air-travel services reached an all-time high of $39.5B, driving a $5.1B trade surplus
In 2012, U.S. passenger and cargo airlines spent more than $50B on fuel, averaging 36% of operating expenses
In 2012, U.S. airlines posted the lowest annual rate of mishandled baggage ever recorded
FAA projects U.S. air travel demand to top 1 billion passengers in 2027
In 2012, US airlines flew 83.4 million passengers in scheduled international service - a record high
In 2012, the total value of merchandise exported from or imported to the United States by air exceeded $927 billion
In 2012, 7.15 teragrams of merchandise was exported from or imported to the United States by air

	ATA Letter to Senate Transportation Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee on NextGen Funding
	PubZone1 November 6, 2009 The Honorable Patty Murray Chairman Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies United States Senate 133 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Christopher Bond Ranking Member Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies United States Senate 128 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC. 20510 Dear Chairman Murray and Ranking Member Bond: First, thank you for your past support of the U.S. commercial aviation industry. You have the unenviable job of allocating a finite amount of funds to this nation’s considerable transportation needs during very difficult times. You have put together an outstanding bill, and my colleagues in the aviation industry and I are urging key members to speed it through conference. In particular, I thank you for your continued support of the War-Risk Insurance Program and you commitment to critical funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). One of our industry’s highest priorities is working together with Congress and the administration to jump-start the next generation of air traffic control (NextGen). The entire aviation community and our government partners are in agreement that NextGen is necessary, and yet there appears to be no plan to ensure it gets funded. We had hoped that some amount of additional funds could be appropriated for equipage and FAA procedures. If funding is not available, the federal government will have completed and spent over $2 billion on the ground infrastructure for the ADSB program, but neither the traveling public nor air carriers will realize the benefits of this investment before 2020. The NextGen deployment is a critical element of our nation’s transportation infrastructure, and so we urge that it be given appropriate consideration along with other transportation initiatives. I am sure you are aware that the bill put forth by the House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee is extremely supportive of high-speed rail and passenger rail service. I certainly acknowledge that, in some locations, high-speed rail offers consumers an alternative choice of transportation. However, the nation has already invested heavily in high-speed rail, as $8 billion for this purpose was included in last year’s stimulus package. While the administration, itself a proponent of high-speed rail, only requested $1 billion in the Fiscal 2010 budget, the House bill included $3 billion in additional funding. I do not suggest that high-speed rail should not be included in overall transportation infrastructure funding, but the significant additional amounts provided by the House indicate that there may indeed be some flexibility within the Fiscal 2010 Transportation-HUD appropriation. We urge you to redirect some amount of these resources to NextGen. An infusion of even a few billion dollars for NextGen equipage and procedures could help expedite airlines’ adoption of key technologies and also help move the FAA closer to developing the requisite protocols. Studies have shown that NextGen will improve airspace efficiency by making flights shorter and more predictable, and will reduce the impact of weather delays that plague the current system. FAA has acknowledged time and again that implementation of NextGen will significantly reduce flight delays and reduce congestion in our airways. The Joint Economic Committee has estimated that airline delays and congestion cost $40 billion in lost productivity and time for passengers and our economy. Investing in NextGen now will yield $12.2 billion in U.S. economic benefits. The benefits to the economy do not stop there: Accelerating NextGen could create approximately 167,000 jobs through 2012. In addition, NextGen implementation will enhance passenger safety and will reduce carbon emissions by 12 to 15 percent. Finally, and not insignificantly, I must point out that the United States is decades behind Europe and many far less-developed countries in terms of transitioning to a satellite-based air traffic control system. We need to take this step to retain our leadership in the global aviation community. We know that you are faced with serious and urgent needs in the transportation sector. My purpose in writing is to urge that NextGen receive careful consideration among these critical needs before another year is lost. Any opportunity to discuss this important issue with you further would be welcomed. Sincerely, James C. May President and CEO PubZone2	A4A advocates measures to support aviation safety, security and well-being.