When my friend, fellow blogger and instructor Max Trescott contacted me to support his fight against new rules proposed by the US TSA (a.k.a. Pointy Objects Administration) I could not decide anything else than open this column to him. Even if as a European pilot I’m not directly concerned I know that many of you, readers, are flying in the US, and even if you’re not, what the TSA does could influence other national administrations. If you have an aviation-oriented blog, I suggest that you join the party and contribute to put pressure on the TSA. What follows is an excerpt of Max’s post.

General Aviation is facing a huge threat and it’s not User Fees. In fact, I would gladly accept a program of user fees over the TSA’s proposed Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP). Why are user fees better? Because they would be less expensive ($25 per flight versus $44 per flight), provide the same increase in security (very little) and wouldn’t destroy the convenience and utility of general aviation.

Benjamin Franklin clearly had these kinds of rules in mind when he said “He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.” In this case, the TSA wants us to give up our personal freedom to fly when and where we wish through an airline-like screening program that does little to improve security.

YOU would pay the bill for it—an estimated $1.9 billion, resulting in an estimated charge of $44 per flight. If you care about general aviation, go to the Regulations.gov Web site today and post your comments on this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). Final comments are due February 27, 2009. I also strongly urge you to write your elected representatives to protest these proposed new rules. Take the time to do this now.

Continue reading “TSA’s LSAP: A Solution in Search of a Problem” »

UPDATES:
Robert Mark of JetWhine joined the party. Click here to read his post.
You can also read the opinion of MyFlightBlog.com.
And the buzz goes on on AeroNews.net.
My good friend Paul from AskACFI.com also joined the buzz.
Steve Tupper from Airspeed posted a collective comments with support from his readers.

It seems that Max is doing well to create a big buzz around this hot topic. Read his final post on the subject.