While acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell brings deep knowledge of both the aviation industry and government workings to his new role, he also carries a long background of pushing for ATC reorganization and has advocated user fees for business and general aviation.
In 2007, while assistant administrator for the FAA, Elwell testified before Congress about how airline passengers are “subsidizing the corporate CEO flying in the company jet and, yes, the general aviation pilot flying his Cessna as well.” He then cited statistics—disputed by NBAA—that commercial aviation “foots 95 percent of the bill” and general aviation pays just 3 percent. More recently, Elwell played a role on the Trump White House transition team and met with industry leaders, discussing the need for reform of the ATC organization.
Though Elwell has been on the opposite side of the ATC issue, GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce called him a friend and noted that Elwell received an SIC type rating in a Cessna Citation Excel on December 22. “We have a philosophical disagreement on ATC privatization,” Bunce said. “Decisions pertaining to this issue will be made by Congress, so Dan’s view on privatization is just one of many. This…is greatly outweighed by his aviation experience, passion for NextGen, expertise within industry, and knowledge about how Washington and the FAA works. Dan is a good guy.”