I strongly encourage you to upgrade our nation's air traffic control
system, and to ensure that the fees to fund and operate the new system are
fair to all air travelers.

America's outdated system will continue to create more delays for
passengers like me. Our air traffic control system is based on 1950s radar
technology that is not able to keep pace with the ongoing introduction of
thousands of new corporate airplanes. The current outdated system also
requires planes to fly hundreds of thousands of extra miles and waste
millions of gallons of fuel, which is not environmentally responsible.

To add insult to injury, our current system is using an outdated 1970s
funding formula that forces passengers like me to subsidize executives who
fly in corporate planes. Everyone should pay his or her fair share.

I strongly encourage you to update our air traffic control system this
year with digital, satellite-based technologies, such as GPS, so that
delays will be minimized and so we help save our environment by ending the
unnecessary burning of fuel. I also strongly urge you to update how this
system is funded so that everyone pays his or her fair share.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

- Connie

The Second District of Kansas depends on general aviation.  Small airfields dot the landscape throughout eastern Kansas and provide facilities for private pilots traveling through Kansas.  Because of the large impact that general aviation has on Kansas, I am very pleased that the House of Representatives recently passed the FAA Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2881).  This bill is good for Kansans, especially for private pilots and commercial travelers.

One of the largest changes in the bill is the historic increase in funding in capital programs used by the FAA to modernize the Air Traffic Control System and to stabilize the Airport and Airway Trust Fund.  Both are crucial to reducing delays in commercial air travel that have become so common.  The excise fees on general aviation proposed by the FAA were not included in the bill, which will keep private aircraft operators and owners flying.

Another important provision in the bill enhances consumer rights while traveling on commercial airlines.  Emergency contingency plans must be developed by both airlines and airports to handle passengers who may be subject to lengthy flight and tarmac delays.  The plans must include provision for food, water, clean restrooms and medical care for passengers, and deplaning if necessary.

The most recent authorization for the FAA expired on September 30 of this year.  Because there are differences between the House and Senate passed bills, a temporary extension of the previous authorization was signed into law by the President as part of House Joint Resolution 52.  I will be closely monitoring the progress of the authorization and I welcome your thoughts as Congress moves forward.

I am confident that the bill passed by the House would greatly benefit general aviation in Kansas.  I hope you will continue to keep in touch and let me know whenever I may be of assistance as the interests of the people of Kansas’ Second District are my highest priority.  Again, thank you very much for contacting me and sharing your views.