GA counters TARP aviation ban
By Tom Norton
General Aviation News
1/14/2009

The House Financial Services Committee released a proposal on Jan. 9 to
reauthorize the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) with a business
aircraft divestiture provision similar to the one included in the
automobile manufacturers bailout bill proposed in December. That language
was removed from the bill on Jan. 13, after heavy lobbying by aviation
groups and, probably more influentially, by individual aircraft owners and
pilots.

“Congress has clearly recognized that it is important to provide Americans
with strong oversight of the federal dollars in the TARP program, but that
the language addressing business aviation had the potential to fuel job
losses for countless people in the general aviation community,” said NBAA
President and CEO Ed Bolen. “We thank Congress for recognizing the
importance of general aviation to companies and communities across the
country with the elimination of this onerous requirement from the TARP
proposal.”

Bolen acknowledged that it was letters, email and telephone calls from
individuals that made the difference through direct contact with elected
representatives.

General aviation contributes more than $150 billion to the U.S. economy
annually and employs more than 1,265,000 people, said Pete Bunce, president
and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. In 2007, U.S.
manufacturers of general aviation aircraft delivered 3,279 airplanes to
customers in the United States and abroad. Their total value was close to
$11.9 billion, of which 38.4% were exported. The general aviation industry
is one of the few remaining industries that maintain a positive trade
balance for the United States, he emphasized.