As I watch the debate between GA user (?) fees or not, I am left wondering what purpose will be served. If one listens to the airlines, the company line appears to be, "Gotta have user fees ... we are paying too much ... GA is causing delays," etc.I believe, should user fees be implemented, GA will die a quick but painful death in this country. The airline mavens in the country appear to be attempting what the railroads were trying to do around the early 1900s; that is, create a monopoly. Apparently, the airlines fear the development of the biz-jet and are attempting to eliminate the need for the biz-jet and the accompanying flexibility.The airlines are locked into schedules, whereas a company fleet of biz-jets are not. The biz-jet operators could very easily create an "on-demand point-to-point air-taxi" service with little or no-delay. This creates a great deal of fear in airline executives' minds!How many of you have ever heard of delays for arrivals or departures into or out of your favorite "GA" airport? Didn't think so. The airlines are creating a perception of massive delays all across the country.If one were to research the obvious, delays occur regularly at all major metroplexs served by ... you're correct: the airlines! When the airlines schedule five, 10 or 15 aircraft to arrive or depart within the same minute, (this doesn't take a degree in rocket science) delays are going to occur. No matter how hard one tries, the effort is just not physically possible.It doesn't help the FAA appears to be right in lock-step with them. Any of you sharp attorneys should be able to easily attack the obvious conflict of interest. The government's own accounting office (GAO) states funding is more than adequate for the foreseeable future for the FAA.I can only hope enough pressure can be applied to steer lawmakers onto the correct path. Stop the baloney. Tell the FAA and the airlines to cease scheduling arrivals and departures in the same minute. When one considers which airports are delayed versus the total number of airports in the country ... it should become very obvious the airlines want to stack the deck, tilt the playing field, etc., in their favor. They want GA out of the sky, and the FAA is right there with them. The airlines want the skies to themselves.Write your congressperson and your senator and tell them to cease the nonsense!Thomas D. Dittmer
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/features/reader-mail/avmail-aug-20-2007