Like previous administrations, both Republican and Democrat, the Obama administration is attempting to impose an aviation user fee, and the fee could hit rural passengers and pilots hardest of all.
Central Nebraska Regional Airport executive director Michael Olson wants President Obama to know that it's a bad idea.
Michael Olson: "I hope he hears that; that this is not good for rural America."
It's not good because the fee of $100 per airplane flight is spread over fewer passengers on smaller, rural routes. Olson says that disproportionate impact isn't just a rural issue. It comes down to plain affordability.
Michael Olson: "The cost of an airline ticket is going to be astronomical. Not only because of higher fuel costs, but then you figure in all these taxes. You know if you look at the percentage of your airline ticket, let's say you purchase a $500 ticket, at some point if Obama is successful in this, it could be over $100 in taxes alone."
The federal Office of Management and Budget says that the fee is necessary to ensure that everyone pays their fair share toward reducing the national deficit, but in a signed letter to President Obama, 195 Congressional representatives say that is the wrong approach.
Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE): "These new fees would be a huge money-grab. Certainly a new tax like this, at $100 per flight virtually, it think is the wrong way to go. This has been a proposal that has fallen flat before, and I look for the same thing to happen now, but we certainly just can't sit idly by."
The aviation user fee is one item in the Obama administration's 2013 budget bill, sent to Congress in mid-February. It could be November before the budget is finalized.
