NWA is trying to stick it to GA.

There?s an interesting debate going on of which you may be unaware. Northwest Airlines is looking for another handout. They?ve done a fantastic job of disguising their intent but it still boils down to NWA wanting to operate at GA's expense. The debate is over who should pay for the six reliever airports.

As you may or may not be aware there are six airports in the Twin Cities area managed by the Metropolitan Airports Commission. According to the MAC website ?The Metropolitan Airports Commission operates the third-largest reliever airports system in the nation. Nearly 748,000 takeoffs and landings a year occur at the commission's six reliever airports - about 47 percent more than at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.? These airports include Airlake (Lakeville), Anoka County (Blaine), Crystal, Flying Cloud (Eden Prairie), Lake Elmo, and Saint Paul Downtown.

Northwest filed suit against the MAC in December 2002, claiming that reliever airports should operate without subsidy and that general aviation users should also assume all depreciation and interest costs for its airports. I?ve had difficulty finding proof but it?s my understanding that NWA wants to refuse paying its maintenance costs to MAC. Now NWA is trying to sway public opinion by grossly misrepresenting the facts.

The following article from Richard Anderson, CEO of Northwest Airlines, was published in the March 2004 issue of Northwest's onboard publication, NWA WorldTraveler.

Fairness for all airport users
Welcome. We?re glad to have you onboard Northwest Airlines today.

Part of our commitment to putting customers first is to comment on issues that impact you as an airline passenger, including the taxes and fees you pay on your airline ticket. I?ve written about this general topic before, but now I want to address a specific issue: the disparity between what you pay as a passenger on a commercial airline, and what a passenger on a private airplane pays to use airport facilities.

Chances are that you will either depart from or arrive at an airport that is used by both commercial airlines like Northwest and privately owned aircraft. Airports levy passenger facility charges (PFCs) to cover airport maintenance and improvement projects, including runway and taxiway enhancements. (Look at your travel confirmation receipt.) PFCs are also used for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved projects that enhance safety and security. Airports can charge PFCs of up to $4.50 per flight segment, or up to $18 roundtrip. As a commercial airline, we are required to collect this fee when you purchase your ticket. Private aircraft operators do not pay these fees for using the airport.

The total taxes and fees you pay as a commercial passenger can add as much as one-fourth to the cost of a $200 domestic ticket. For example, Northwest?s base fare for a roundtrip ticket from Fargo, N.D., to Madison, Wisc., with a connection in Minneapolis/St. Paul, is about $200. That?s a pretty good fare ? until you realize that nearly 28 percent or $55 in taxes and fees is added to that amount. That?s a hefty tax burden and it?s not being shared by private aviation.

Private aircraft operators also do not pay ticket taxes to fund the FAA. Last year the FAA spent $6 billion operating the Air Traffic Control system in the U.S. This service is free of charge for private aircraft operators. Why? Because the commercial airlines pay taxes collected from you to pay for the operation of a system that all travelers use.

Private aviation operators do pay a fuel excise tax, as do all commercial airlines ? but that is about the extent of private aviation?s funding for airports.

At NWA, we believe an airport?s operating costs should be borne by all who use them, including those who travel by private aircraft. As the system works today, you, the commercial airline passenger, are subsidizing private aircraft ownership. This is not right.

We are working with the federal government to find solutions to this and other issues which exacerbate the challenges we face as a commercial airline serving customers like you who deserve a ?fair fare.?

Thanks for choosing Northwest. We appreciate your business.

Richard Anderson
Chief Executive Officer
Northwest Airlines

Nowhere in the article was it mentioned the reliever airports save NWA millions of dollars a year. If MSP had to accommodate an additional 748,000 takeoffs and landings a year NWA flights would have to bear an enormous financial burden.

For one it would impact the availability of the airport. NWA would have to wait longer on the ramp to take off and would burn more fuel flying holding patterns waiting to land. NWA?s ability to schedule flights would also be impacted. Traffic at MSP is currently for the most part commercial and therefore on a semi-regular schedule. If general aviation were to use the field 47 percent more than commercial flights usage would be far more random and unpredictable. This would make maintaining a schedule difficult at best.

Safety and ease of use would also be greatly impacted. General aviation aircraft operate at a much slower speed than most commercial aircraft and are more difficult to see. That coupled with an increased workload on the aircraft controllers would be a disaster waiting to happen. Because of the vastly different needs between jetliners and most private aircraft the pace would have to be slowed down substantially. Additionally, space would have to be made available at MSP to house all the other aircraft. The six relievers have hundred?s of thousands of acres in use. If that were not available it would reduce the space available for terminals, jet hangers, etc? at MSP.

Anderson claims ?Airports can charge PFCs of up to $4.50 per flight segment, or up to $18 roundtrip. As a commercial airline, we are required to collect this fee when you purchase your ticket. Private aircraft operators do not pay these fees for using the airport.?. What he fails to mention is the fact that general aviation doesn?t have access to the terminals and gates that the commercial airlines use. I wonder how NWA would operate without a place for passengers to be ticketed and wait for boarding.

Anderson further claims, ?Private aircraft operators also do not pay ticket taxes to fund the FAA. Last year the FAA spent $6 billion operating the Air Traffic Control system in the U.S. This service is free of charge for private aircraft operators. Why? Because the commercial airlines pay taxes collected from you to pay for the operation of a system that all travelers use. Private aviation operators do pay a fuel excise tax, as do all commercial airlines ? but that is about the extent of private aviation?s funding for airports.?

Claiming that Private aircraft owners do not fund the FAA is outrageous. I?ve never met a pilot without an income and I?ve never met anyone who didn?t pay taxes on their income. Furthermore, as mentioned private pilots pay a fuel excise just like the airlines.

According to MAC ?More than half of all registered aircraft in Minnesota are based at reliever airports, which generate an estimated $1.4 billion annually for the Twin Cities economy.? All of these airports charge a lease for hanger space. On top of the monies paid for these leases property taxes are collected as well. These are just a couple of ways money flows from GA back into the reliever system. Many of the costs incurred to operate these reliever fields go directly into equipment to further reduce the load on MSP.

The old saying is apparently true? ?Give them an inch and they will take a mile? NWA already has one of the better facilities in the country because of the reliever airports. Now they are demanding it free of charge. At what point do we as GA pilots stop putting up with this kind of BS? The suit filed and the position taken by NWA is hindering the growth of the reliever system put in place to ease the burden on MSP. It is an outrage that a company, which has taken so much continues to look for ways to exploit the system.

If you can please take a moment to let Mr. Anderson know what you think of his article and his attempt to turn public oppinion against GA.

Richard Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, Northwest Airlines, Inc.,
5105 NorthWest Drive,
St. Paul, MN 55111-3034
(Ph: 612-726-2790)

Interesting letter Mr Anderson drafted. I must be living in a cave up here in Alaska I always though you needed to be smart to have a position like his.

Cub_Driver

Idelete

I would hate to be on the oposite side of Phil Boyer.

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2004/04-2-002x_response.html

Tim

.....and that is why we should all belong to AOPA. It's much more that just a magazine and Rent-a-car discounts.

well i can confidently say that i would NOT have a supercub if it wasnt for NWA, ha!

NWA

Testify Brother Oscar! NWA bought me a House, Biplane and a PA-12
Best Airline I ever been furloughed from! If I dont get back soon I'll be liven in a van down by the river.

oscar.....

you mean you would not have a supercub to fly


I would not have the opertunity to fly floatplanes or have a cub to borrow if it wasnt for NWA. Im sure this will stir captain saftey when he returns...lol


Tim

I don't think anyone is knocking NWA pilots folks. However, as you are also GA pilots I would think this would be a concern for you as well. Currently this only affects anyone flying out of KMSP relievers. But it can have a trickle down effect. KANE for instance had to put developing new space for hangers on hold and has also mothballed the ILS. All the equipment for the ILS has been sitting in boxes for two years now and the hanger locations sit undeveloped while this is taking place.

No hangers = no additional income.
No ILS = more approaches shot into KMSP.

If you don't rely on GA airports then by all means feel free to ignore this thread. If you never travel through MN then go ahead and ignore this. However?. Ask yourself what precedence you want set before Delta, Continental, Southwest, etc? Decide they should follow Northwest?s lead.

Many folks feel anyone flying their own plane today can be compared to executives from Tyco, Enron, etc... Let them believe we?re also the reason airfare is expensive and see what it gets us.

The saga continues....

Minneapolis area GA is still under attack. Below are a few excerpts from the AOPA web site.

"AOPA CHALLENGES MAJOR FEE INCREASES IN MINNEAPOLIS
AOPA President Phil Boyer on Thursday told airport commissioners in
Minneapolis that, after 61 years, they should not undo their model
airport capacity relief system just because the primary tenant at the hub
airport (Northwest Airlines) is in economic difficulty--again! The
Metropolitan Airport Commission (MAC), which runs Minneapolis-St Paul
International/Wold-Chamberlain Airport and six general aviation
reliever airports in the area, wants to raise rates and fees at its
reliever airports as much as 700 percent."

"Ironically, Boyer's meeting with Pawlenty and presentation to the MAC occurred the same day Northwest announced its four top executives, including Anderson, were granted more than $6 million in new stock bonuses. At the same time the airline reported a first-quarter loss of some $236 million."

All this is going on at the same time NWA pilots are being asked to take Pay cuts.

Having been on both sides of the fence on this, I am at a complete loss on how top aviation management can even think about doing such things.
Just as cub_driver said, guess I have been blind for a while too now that I have been away from the rat race for a while. Having been in aviation management for so long, it is unbelievable to me how a CEO or equal can take such huge amounts of money out of an airline, or any company for that matter, when all the chips are down. Just look at Hawaiian Airlines too. To get such bonuses while asking all employees, not just pilots, to take such pay cuts is beyond me. But than again, our elected officials do the same things at times but that comes close to political so better drop that thought

Totally agree with those about AOPA. I first joined up in 1957 when I first started flying at the suggestion of my instructor but let the membership go away when I moved to Alaska. The only complaint I have ever had with AOPA is when they didn't support protecting the closure of Meigs airport in Chicago before Daily went in at midnight and ripped up the strip with a bulldozer ripper. But since I wasn't a member, I had nothing to say. Join up and get your thoughts heard. They need our support.

Ernie

NWA stinks........

One very important point wasn't mentioned: NWA is operating FOR PROFIT. They are a corporation, and the various use charges are just another cost of doing business. Private aviation does NOT operate out of a profit motive, and we have already paid our federal/state taxes, so NO additional charges can be justified.
My 2 cents worth.

Mike

The only complaint I have ever had with AOPA is when they didn't support protecting the closure of Meigs airport in Chicago before Daily went in at midnight and ripped up the strip with a bulldozer ripper.

Click to expand...

Gunny, Mayor Daly had agreed to keep Meigs Field open for the next 25 years, and the governor of Illinois was quite happy with that, as were the rest of us. But after checking on which planes were on the field, Daly waited until the tower closed at 11pm, then instructed the bulldozers to go ahead and cut huge X's in the runway. No-one, including the FAA, knew this was happening. We found out the next morning when the tower personnel reported for work.

AOPA went to bat for GA as well as they could after the fact. It seems that there were some legal loopholes that allowed Daly to do that. The only illegal part was that he did not give the FAA sufficient notice (30 or 60 days or something like that).

The first reason he gave was that he wanted to develop more parkland for the residents of Chicago. The second reason he gave was security against terrorism. The funny thing is that, with a tower in operation, there was more security than without it. The real reason is that he wanted to build casinos there.

Anne.

Ahem - I think you were referring to AlaskaAV's quote in that last post weren't you Anne?? I hadn't posted on this topic until this post.

I don't mind being corrected but I prefer being corrected for stuff I actually did -

No harm done, besides being confused with Ernie is kind of an honor.

Anne.

About the same time I started this thread I was looking into where the money was being spent on the reliever system. Using rough figures based on public information I concluded the 6 reliever airports ran a deficit of roughly $2 million dollars. This deficit was picked up by MAC. In all I figured $2 million dollars was a bargain for operating 4 towered and 2 non-towered airports. The airlines never have to deal with GA traffic and they get the run of MSP.

However…. That was not the case. NWA sued MAC and refused to pay their ramp fees claiming they were unfairly picking up the expense for general aviation airports. The result of this was MAC raising rents and surcharges at the reliever airports. Once again using rough figures based on public information I tried to calculate the additional income. By my account I guessed between $20 and $22 million dollars of additional income would be raised. This would not only cover the deficit but would leave one heck of a windfall.

Apparently I was correct. MAC seemed to have an extra $21.8 million dollars to give to the airlines. You can read the details here. http://www.startribune.com/535/story/884579.html

You’ve all seen the debates over whether or not we have user fees in our future. If you ever doubted the airlines could group together and make us poor GA saps pick up their tab, don’t. It’s happening now in MN and coming soon to a town near you.

BSEC,
There will never be user fees, laanding fees, tiedown fees, or any other fees. All that is required here is to have a good time !! Come on up sometime.