flight plan | Brad in Motion

Brad’s NBAA Flight Plan Interviews: BARR Fight Victory!

In March of 2011, the Department of Transportation made a shocking change which eliminated the Blocked Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program. The BARR system enabled personal and corporate aircraft operators such as myself to block tracking of our aircraft so that they couldn’t be tracked by anonymous users with nothing more than a web browser. Once dismantled, competitors and random people online could see every move we made in our aircraft, the equivalent of allowing someone to go online and see the movements of every road you take and location you visit in your personal or company vehicle. Obviously, this not only caused quite a stir in the aviation industry, but also had much larger implications for society as a whole if this same principal of complete online visibility was applied in the future to other types of vehicles. Our basic right to privacy had been eliminated, but fortunately, there were numerous industry groups ready to battle this misguided move by our government. Among those groups were the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association), the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) and the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association).

Throughout the course of the BARR fight, I spoke with numerous media outlets to help explain why this change was a poor decision and how it would affect small businesses such as my own. I was also in contact with numerous political leaders, urging them to work towards reversing this wrong that had been committed against so many people and businesses such as my own.

On November 17th of 2011, I got an early Christmas present when I received word that the BARR fight was over – WE WERE VICTORIOUS! I was absolutely thrilled to say the least. Congress stepped in and reinstated the BARR program which sent a clear message that the rights of privacy were still important to the American people and businesses.

I certainly very thankful and appreciative to each of the aviation industry organizations who worked so diligently to protect the rights of aircraft owners and operators everywhere. I’m also very appreciative of our elected leaders who did the right thing by ensuring the privacy of the citizens and businesses they represent remains protected.

Interview #1

After the victory was announced, I was honored to be interviewed for NBAA’s Flight Plan Podcast with host Pete Combs. You can read a full article, Congress Reinstates the BARR – What’s Next? by clicking here. At the bottom of the article there’s the full audio portion of the interview. I’ve also included a link directly to the audio interview here for your convenience.

Read the Full Article at the NBAA Site: Congress Reinstates the BARR – What’s Next?
Listen to the Full Audio Interview: Listen Now

Interview #2

Additionally, as a follow-up to this story, Pete Combs did another segment during his 2011 year in review series. You can read the full article, BARR Battle Figured Prominently for Industry in 2011 by clicking here. At the bottom of the article there’s the full audio portion of the interview. I’ve also included a link directly to the audio interview here for your convenience.

Read the Full Article at the NBAA Site: BARR Battle Figured Prominently for Industry in 2011
Listen to the Full Audio Interview: Listen Now

Thanks again to everyone who worked so diligently to make this victory possible!

Brad’s NBAA Flight Plan Interview: Industry United in Thwarting Latest User Fee Threat

26 Sep , 2011 2 Comments

General aviation taxes. They’re collected each time I fly. From the moment I start the engine of my Turbo Cirrus SR22 Aircraft until the moment the blades stop spinning, taxes are being collected via the use of an aviation fuel tax. If I fly a long trip where I’m likely going to be using more air traffic services, I burn more fuel, and therefore I pay more taxes. If I make a quick hop to see a customer closer to home, I’ll likely use less air traffic services, burn less fuel, and therefore I pay less. Simple. Effective. Proven. It’s perhaps the most brilliant fair tax in effect today by our federal government.

What disturbs me is the recent proposal by the Obama administration to implement a new type of user fee which would negatively affect the general aviation community. The proposal calls for a $100 fee to be paid for each business flight. That means whether I’m flying to Miami or Memphis, I’d pay the same fee. This simply makes no sense since there’s no correlation between my actual aircraft usage and the amount of revenue collected. To make matters even worse, a whole new bureaucracy would need to be created (and paid for) simply to collect these new “use taxes.” This is a bad solution to a problem that’s already been solved. The current system isn’t broken, so let’s quit trying to fix it.

Beyond the unfair nature of the proposed user fees, I think it’s also important to note the negative effect these fees will have on our economy. Take for instance my own company’s use of our general aviation aircraft. We use our Turbo Cirrus SR22 to visit customers throughout the country. It allows us to visit multiple customers in a single day, often turning three days of travel into one. We’re able to see more customers, make more sales, grow our business, hire more employees, and better serve our customers so they can grow their businesses. It’s a win-win scenario for everyone involved. Our Cirrus has allowed my small business to grow which has a positive effect on the economy. If these new user fees are enacted, it will mean a substantial increase in costs to our company. This will stifle our growth, thereby stifling our contribution to our community and to the economy. Our company isn’t unique, there are thousands of others just like us throughout the country who rely on general aviation which will be harmed by this proposal. This proposal is simply bad for general aviation, bad for business and bad for our economy.

I recently spoke with Pete Combs, host of the National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA) Flight Plan Podcast series, to voice my concerns. He wrote a great article explaining the numerous flaws of the new user fee proposal, along with an audio interview which includes excerpts from our conversation.

You can read a full article, Industry United in Thwarting Latest User Fee Threat by clicking here. At the bottom of the article there’s the full audio portion of the interview. I’ve also included a link directly to the audio interview here for your convenience.

Read the Full Article at the NBAA Site: Industry United in Thwarting Latest User Fee Threat
Listen to the Full Audio Interview: Listen Now

Brad’s NBAA Flight Plan Interview: Does Being a Pilot Make You a Better CEO?

05 Sep , 2011 No Comments

I recently had the privilege of flying with Pete Combs who creates the Flight Plan Podcast series for the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). As we cruised several thousand feet above the mountains in Northern Georgia, he conducted an airborne interview regarding my thoughts on a recent study about CEO’s who are also pilots. The study itself was very interesting, indicating that CEO’s who are pilots take more risks in business, and often times have more success because of their higher risk tolerance. While I agree with the premise of the conclusion, I think there may be one additional element that leads to this success. Sure, pilots inherently take more risks than others, but they also tend to be masters of risk management. This risk management begins with a thorough pre-flight, continues with completing checklists before the engine is even started, and is present during every single phase of the flight itself. There’s a constant thought process of, “what am I going to do if xyz occurs.” This thought process concerning risk management occurs in the very same manner with business operations I encounter daily. I’m apt to take calculated risks to grow my business, yet at the same time in the back of my mind I’ve got a plan B, plan C, and in many cases even a plan D for the worst case scenario. Therefore, I think that it’s more than just a higher risk tolerance that makes CEO’s who are pilots more successful, but rather a higher degree of risk management ability as well which is reinforced every time a CEO steps into the cockpit or the boardroom.

You can read a full article, Does Being a Pilot Make You a Better CEO? by clicking here. At the bottom of the article there’s the full audio portion of the interview. I’ve also included a link directly to the audio interview here for your convenience.

Read the Full Article at the NBAA Site: Does Being a Pilot Make You a Better CEO?
Listen to the Full Audio Interview: Listen Now