NBTA Encouraged by Senate Introduction of FAA Re-authorization
ALEXANDRIA, VA, July 16, 2009 - The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) - the largest association of business travel professionals - praised U.S. Senate aviation leaders for bipartisan introduction of S.1451, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2009. Along with important safety provisions, the bill promises to make the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) a reality that will benefit millions of business travelers and their employers.
Kevin Maguire, CCTE, GLP, NBTA President & CEO, said, "NBTA is excited to see the Senate acting on a bipartisan basis to speed implementation of NextGen. Today's outdated aviation system has become a major drag on corporate productivity. Funding, regulating, and deploying an aviation system capable of supporting a 21st Century economy is vital to economic recovery in the short-term and economic vitality in the long-term."
In contrast to the House version of the bill passed in May, the Senate version would not change or increase airport Passenger Facility Charges. In a previous statement, NBTA contended that air travelers should not be targeted with additional charges. See Statement
Maguire continued, "We are also pleased that the Senate avoided provisions to increase Passenger Facility Charges and disrupt valuable airline alliances. We urge the Senate to move quickly to pass the FAA legislation so that final legislation can be signed by President Obama this year."
NBTA urges further refinements to the legislation such as removing provisions that seek to micromanage airline service performance, which would be better left to market-based decisions.
The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world's premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. NBTA and its regional affiliates - NBTA Asia Pacific, the Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV), NBTA Canada, NBTA Mexico and NBTA USA - serve a network of more than 15,000 business travel professionals around the globe with industry-leading events, networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 4,000 in 30 nations, are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers. They collectively manage and direct more than US$200 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more than 10 million business travelers within their organizations. For more information, visit www.nbta.org.
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