Gen Aviation After the Election?

[Bill Greenwood]

What effect if any will the election have on gen aviation?
My guess is not much. Both candidates are heavy users of private aviation, just as most any serious national candidate must be to cover the grpund.
Trump owns his own planes and Hillary charters.
I have a friend who used to fly Bill Clinton around when he was running for gov in Ark, in a Cessna, think it was a 185 or similar. He said Bill was a good passenger, usually reading or doing work enroute, not weather shy just wanting to get there.
We have had candidates who were pilots, believe John Kerry is and in office they were not always kind to gen av. I think both the last Pres proposed extra gen av tax or even privatizing the FAA, not sure about that.
In a lecture at Osh Sen, Inhoff claimed that Trump told him he would be an advocate for private av, but not sure if that means corporate jets or our kind of smaller aviation. And Inhoff is on one far end of the spectrum, so that grain of salt must be kept in mind.
In the end, I doubt much will change, and moslty hope not. We are ok like it is and could be worse.
And havent heard of pilots having trouble with TFRs during the campaigns.

[L16 Pilot]

I'm always amazed how the president can complain about global warming (sorry climate change) and then fly around to political fund raisers halfway across the country. Like I should worry about burning 6 gallons an hour in my little put put or driving my four wheel drive pickup? Yeah, I know all presidents do it but they don't seem to worry about their carbon foot print.

[Frank Giger]

How much can a President effect aviation?

Well, depends on how much he travels, and where. That TFR is a beast!

More seriously, it's almost common for a new President to look at some level of privatization of the ATC services (read user fees) and airport subsidy as low hanging fruit where they can cut the budget.

Then Congress and the Senate shoot down these dumb ideas.

Ask me again why I belong to both EAA and AOPA.

It's not tagged to ideology either - on one side is the "cut government, get them out of stuff they don't need to be doing and funding stuff we shouldn't" line and on the other "end the corporate welfare and make the fat cat airplane owners pay their fair share" thoughts.

It all sounds pretty good on its face, but as we know the reality is quite different.

I doubt the director of the FAA meets with the President more than at his swearing in or at some pro forma event. It's just not a hot topic in the White House for any administration.

When we look at the boondoggle of the driver's license medical, there was zero input from the Executive. The foot dragging could have come to a screeching halt with one meeting in the Oval Office, with the President telling the heads of the FAA and the OMB that either they get off the dime and make it happen or submit their resignations.

I don't fault the President for not doing that, though. From his chair, it's a tempest in a tea pot he just doesn't have the time to divert to it.

[rwanttaja]

When we look at the boondoggle of the driver's license medical, there was zero input from the Executive. The foot dragging could have come to a screeching halt with one meeting in the Oval Office, with the President telling the heads of the FAA and the OMB that either they get off the dime and make it happen or submit their resignations.

I don't fault the President for not doing that, though. From his chair, it's a tempest in a tea pot he just doesn't have the time to divert to it.
It's a matter of the size of the affected group. There are about 600,000 pilots in the US. That's very small, compared to a lot of other special-interest groups. The driver's-license medical issue was not one of fundamental liberties, rights being denied, groups being discriminated against, either. So there wasn't much political hay to be gathered supporting it...and with the opposition of the AMA and ALPA, a lot of "Public Safety" brownie points to be gained by opposing it. And don't forget, if the FAA hadn't totally P.O.d one senator over an unrelated issue, none of this would have happened in the first place. We were darn lucky to have gotten what we did, thanks to the EAA and AOPA.

I don't think that would have changed no matter which party was in power. And, I don't think it'll change no matter what happens in a month.

Ron "I don't vote, that only encourages 'em" Wanttaja

[Mark17]

The outcome of the presidential election will have a tremendous impact on general aviation. It all circles back to the economy in the end and general aviation is absolutely dependent on a strong vibrant and extremely innovative economy. This, in combination with the Policies enacted and enforced by the three branches of government have a direct correlation to the success or failure of everything we do in aviation. Whether that's a new aviation start up trying to obtain funding to launch their product or legislation that directly impacts our rights as pilots, it all matters greatly and whatever side of the aisle your beliefs fall, it's critically important. An open sourced, agile, robust economy open to new ideas and innovation is what general aviation thrives on. Combine that with a common sense approach to government and the better it is for all of us in aviation. Ask companies like Beechcraft, Eclipse, ATG Javelin, Icon and the like about how legislative policy, executive branch decision making and judicial branch findings have directly impacted their respective business. Every decision our elected officials and appointees make has a tremendous impact on our quality of life as pilots. It matters. plain and simple. For me personally, I have seen both sides of the coin. Deregulation of the banking industry which led to the housing crisis which in turn led to the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression was not a highlight of governmental genius for me. It directly impacted everyone within aviation and not for the better. It hurt an entire generation of Americans and the effects are still being felt throughout our country. Other legislation and executive mandates have really helped. My point is every decision they make has a direct impact on all of us. Whatever your political affiliation. Major geo political events, our environment, global warming, economic prosperity- laws and governance- it's all corralated and impacts our lives daily. Get out and make your voice heard and stand up for what you believe in. As for me I stand up for our environment, our economy and common sense. Well that and fishing and flying because sometimes that's fun too!