NBAA Tells White House, Media: President’s Remarks About Business Aviation Misleading, Inaccurate

National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen sent a strongly worded letter to President Barak Obama expressing dismay at the disparaging remarks about business aviation made by the President in a June 29 press conference, and vowed to oppose any White House policy that harms the industry.

Bolen's direct letter to the White House comes as NBAA has reached out to dozens of national news outlets to rebut Obama's denigrating comments about business aviation. In the aftermath of the President's news conference, NBAA officials have spoken to a growing list of national, regional and trade media, including: Associated Press, Bloomberg News, CNBC, Congressional Quarterly, FOX News, MarketWatch Dow Jones, National Public Radio, National Journal, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and a host of others.

The comments Bolen provided for news organizations reflected those made in the White House letter he sent, which states, in part: "The U.S. has long been the world leader in all aspects of business aviation, but other countries are working hard to displace us. Yet, rather than extolling this great American industry, you have chosen to denigrate it."

Bolen also noted that on the day following the White House press conference, NBAA has prepared a letter Members can send, using the Association's online Contact Congress resource, to make their voices heard with their elected representatives in response to the President's rhetoric about business aviation.

"The President repeatedly denigrated business airplane owners and operators, apparently to make a case that current tax ‘depreciation schedules' for general aviation airplanes are too short, and should be lengthened," Bolen said. "NBAA has forcefully spoken out against the president's vilification of business aviation, and we will oppose his policy reversal, which would harm the industry. Now, the people in the business aviation community have an opportunity to raise their voices as well, through our Contact Congress resource.

"We have a letter related to the President's remarks and the issue of depreciation schedules for business airplanes, and we want NBAA Members to send it to their elected officials in Congress, who would ultimately consider the kind of policy the president is considering," he said. "The entire industry needs to speak with one, unified voice, and tell Congress to say no to the President's proposal, which is bad policy and cynical politics."