FAA billed $450k for EAA AirVenture, $0 for NFL Super Bowl

[mike mcs repair]

I couldn't find the old thread on this,..???

EAA says it's wondering why the FAA billed it $450,000 for air traffic services at last year's AirVenture when the NFL won't have to pay the extra costs associated with the Super Bowl.

"... it's particularly galling that a financially able entity like the NFL escapes the fees while non-profit groups struggling to stage community events have to pay. “In the Alice in Wonderland environment in which these ATC decisions are being made, it’s not surprising that the FAA has decided to stop charging fees to the NFL and begin charging fees to non-profit organizations working to hold aviation events in their local communities..."

"We were working in good faith based on the information we received from the FAA, which was that the Super Bowl/NFL, NASCAR and other major aviation events were all reimbursing the agency for air traffic costs such as overtime, backfill costs and so forth," EAA said in a statement. "The FAA told us those costs were the reason we received the assessments last year." EAA said it's investigating the inconsistency "through a number of channels." Sun 'n Fun paid more than $200,000 for ATC expenses last year

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/EAA-Challenges-FAA--Fee-Policy221383-1.html

 

[fancypants]

Should be noted that the NFL is also a tax exempt organization.

 

[soyAnarchisto]

and there aren't thousands of aircraft flying to and landing on the 50 yard line?