On Reasonableness ...

... when it comes to funding and security. During the past week, the head of the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association fired the first salvo at the Administration’s soon-to-be-released aviation funding proposal, while here in Austin a city council member took on TSA in an effort to get easier access at Austin-Bergstrom International.   On funding, AOPA president Phil Boyer says that the Administration “is manufacturing an FAA ‘funding crisis’ in a smoke-and-mirrors attempt to divert attention away from the real issue – the need to address the problems that constrain capacity, efficiency, and new technology adoption.†The White House is expected to unveil its FY2008 budget next week, at which time the FAA’s long-awaited proposal for funding the aviation system – and ATC modernization – will be detailed. For the past year, the agency has sounded much like officials from the Air Transport Association, which came out with its proposal for funding the system a year ago. It’s gotten to the point that industry expects FAA’s proposal to mirror ATA’s.  Central to the debate on all sides: the health of the Aviation Trust Fund; ATC modernization; and, a continued general fund contribution. Much more on this to come in the weeks ahead.   In Austin, council member Jennifer Kim has been doing damage control after questioning why she and other top city officials could not get access to the gates when not an airline passenger. It was reported that Kim’s overriding goal was to be able to meet with visiting officials as a representative of the city government. It seems to be a reasonable request, and one that TSA should give serious consideration to, if it hasn’t already. (A search of TSA’s website reveals nothing about the Kim/Austin issue.) If we can have special privileges for ‘trusted travelers’ it seems we can come up with a system whereby local officials can have access past screening when performing official duties.   Thanks for reading. jfi