FAA to Charge Overflight Fees

On June 5, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced aircraft operators will be required to pay fees for air traffic control services provided to aircraft that operate in U.S. airspace, but do not take off or land in the United States. Unlike other aircraft operations, these "overflights" have not been paying for the FAA air traffic control services they receive.

"This rule assesses fees directly related to services provided by one of the safest air traffic control systems in the world," said FAA Chief Financial Officer Donna F. McLean. "The charging of overflight fees is consistent with the practices of almost every other nation and will recover most of the costs of the services provided."

The authority to charge fees to aircraft conducting U.S. overflights was contained in the Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act of 1996. The agency issued an interim final rule in 1997 but a U.S. Court of Appeals decision in January 1998 determined that FAA's calculation of fees was inconsistent with the statute. In this interim final rule, FAA has based its new overflight fees on the agency's costs as calculated by the FAA's recently developed cost accounting system.

Under the new rule, fees will be based on the distance flown through U.S.-controlled airspace. Overflights will be charged at the rate of $37.43 per 100 nautical miles in the enroute environment, and $20.16 per 100 nautical miles in the oceanic environment. These fees will apply to operators of aircraft that fly over U.S.-controlled airspace. There are some exceptions. No charges will be assessed on military and civilian aircraft operated by the U.S. government or by a foreign government. In addition, users who accrue $250 or less in fees per month will not be charged for these operations.

The FAA will bill users by sending a monthly invoice. Affected users are requested to designate and submit to the FAA the name and address of a U.S. agent for billing. Users not providing a billing address will be billed at the address of record of the aircraft owner as maintained in the country where the aircraft is registered.

The fees will go into effect Aug. 1. The FAA will hold a meeting June 29 to hear comments from the public and will accept public comment until Oct. 4, 120 days after the interim final rule's publication in the Federal Register. A final rule will be issued after a thorough review of public comments. For a copy of the interim final rule, check the Department of Transportation's docket web site at http://dms.dot.gov. The docket number is FAA-2000-7018. An electronic version of this news release is available via the web at http://www.faa.gov/apa/pr/index.cfm.

Edited by Bob Arguero