EAA Fly- In Almost Didn’t Happen
By Donnelly Clare
Some two months before the world’s greatest aviation celebration, officials from the Oshkosh Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) got word from the federal government: pay up or you can’t have your fly-in.
The Federal Aviation Administration told the EAA they’d have to pay nearly $500k to cover the costs of air traffic controllers’ overtime, housing, transportation and incidentals or for the first time in 60 years, the Airventure show would be cancelled.
The Oshkosh airport becomes the busiest in the world during the weeklong event, when stunt, antique and other interesting planes are featured on the ground and in the air. Officials from the FAA blamed the high bill on the federal sequester, but pilots argue they already pay for the cost of air traffic controllers with a hefty surcharge on aircraft fuel.
According to Jack Pelton, EAA Chairman, the group has paid half the fee so far, “with the proviso that if you don’t pay for those services, we won’t be there and you can’t have the event.”
“We had already contracted, sold, had in place the event,” Pelton said. “You can’t define being held hostage more accurately than that- I don’t know what else you could say.”
Pelton added the fee would be paid out of the profits of the show- money which usually is donated to youth programs in the area.
In a statement, FAA officials said it understood the important of general aviation, but said, “The current budget environment is requiring us to make difficult budget decisions.”
The EAA is now claiming an arbitrary application of budget cuts is petitioning a federal court to step in. The court could rule in mid-August.
Click here for live updates from the fly- in.