President’s Message Greetings from Washington! By Thomas L. Hendricks A s we go to press with this ABJ issue, NATA is in the midst of an intense lobbying cam- paign to help shape the House version of the FAA Reauthorization Bill titled, “The Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act. Our Senior Vice President for Government and External Affairs, Bill Deere, will provide a fuller “from the trenches” view of our team’s lobbying efforts; but, before that, let’s cover a few points on NATA’s multi-year strategy that is now bearing fruit as we ensure that the Voice of Aviation Business is heard loudly and clearly by legislators and other policy makers. NATA began laying the groundwork for this ongoing effort almost four years ago. By quietly and respectfully building key relationships, NATA’s reputation, relevance and view as an “honest broker” in Washington is yielding needed access, at this critical time, that is vital to ensuring your voice is heard. Throughout this period, NATA’s team sought solutions and focused on listening to both our members and policy makers. At the same time, through multiple meet- ings with lawmakers and administration officials, our staff worked diligently to educate the Hill and federal agencies on NATA’s unique and critical membership and how seemingly well-intended policy prescriptions can have a detrimental impact on small businesses. This provided the framework to develop thoughtful and member-driven policy positions for this key legislation. Further, to be most effective, these are relationships that must endure over time. It is folly to view policy debates as zero-sum game transactions. While we sometimes disagree Aviation Business Journal | 1st Quarter 2016 with key policy makers, we continue to be respectful and solution oriented. Why is this so critical? The politics of Washington will grind on long after the fate of one piece of legislation is decided. Maintaining long-term, respect- ful relationships is the most effective way to guarantee the enduring effectiveness of NATA long into the future. House Transportation Committee Chairman Shuster released the specific language of the AIRR Act on February 3, 2016, then very quickly followed with a hearing six days later, and a full committee vote the following day. Although Chairman Shuster revealed some broad details over the last year, NATA did not have access to the bill’s language prior to its release. Going back to our point on enduring rela- tionships, we made the decision to “keep our powder dry” and focus on the specifics of the bill prior to launching our advocacy campaign. We did this to ensure we maximized the efforts of NATA’s members at the most appropriate time so our message to lawmakers was not diluted by the passage of time or lack of volume. This strategy is paying off as we speak, but there is still a lot of fighting left to do to ensure aviation businesses remain a key part of this discussion. With this as a backdrop, here are some key NATA obser- vations on House Transportation Committee Chairman Congressman Bill Shuster’s AIRR Act: ■■ On balance, the bill that passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will, in the long term, hurt general aviation businesses. In the U.S., we enjoy the safest, most complex, most diverse system in the world with unparalleled access for Continued on page 6 5
