Faced with an ultimatum from the FAA, EAA Chairman Jack Pelton says his organization will pay the $500,000 fee requested by the FAA if that's the only way to guarantee that EAA's AirVenture 2013 is fully staffed regarding air traffic controllers. According to Pelton, the FAA's negotiations amounted to a demand for the funds and a signed contract to provide the controllers or the annual convention that creates the "world's busiest control tower" would be left without air traffic control. The agency must make $384 million in cuts by Sept. 30 as arranged by governmental wrangling known as the sequester. If EAA does foot the bill, it won't be the first major airshow this year to pay to have air traffic controllers on hand. Many pilots and some senators are upset by the move, which they're calling a new user fee.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/eaa-will-pay-for-controllers-if-it-must