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Notes From The AeroNav Digital Chart Vendor Meeting
My notes from the meeting at AeroNav today regarding fees for the redistribution of digital charts.Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
So the FAA's plan to double-tax aviation was revealed, then they lied about it to try and cover it up, now they're admitting it? What are NBAA and AOPA going to do to stop this?
There's no (new) double taxation. The law (49 USC 44721) says they have to charge end users to defer their costs. The cost of the paper charts was compilation plus printing plus mailing. The cost of the digital charts will be compilation plus DVDs/mailing if you choose that.
So will FA continue to offer charts for free??
A month ago, I squawked "FAA To cart Charging For Online Charts, No Access For Individuals":
http://flightaware.com/squawks/view/1/recently/popular/22980/FAA_To_Charge_Companies_For_Online_Charts_No_Access_For_Individuals
A few days later, the FAA responded that nothing was changing in the article, "FAA: Digital Charting Issue Much Ado about Nothing":
http://flightaware.com/squawks/view/1/7_days/popular/23123/FAA_Digital_Charting_Issue_Much_Ado_about_Nothing
And now the plan is revealed that WILL mean that end-users have to pay to access the digital products.
http://flightaware.com/squawks/view/1/recently/popular/22980/FAA_To_Charge_Companies_For_Online_Charts_No_Access_For_Individuals
A few days later, the FAA responded that nothing was changing in the article, "FAA: Digital Charting Issue Much Ado about Nothing":
http://flightaware.com/squawks/view/1/7_days/popular/23123/FAA_Digital_Charting_Issue_Much_Ado_about_Nothing
And now the plan is revealed that WILL mean that end-users have to pay to access the digital products.
The FAA may continue to offer access to single charts on their website, they're undecided.
Even if they don't, end-users don't necessarily have to pay. If someone wants to redistribute the charts and eat the cost (or have ads/etc) they're welcome to. The FAA is happy as long as they get their cost recovery.
Even if they don't, end-users don't necessarily have to pay. If someone wants to redistribute the charts and eat the cost (or have ads/etc) they're welcome to. The FAA is happy as long as they get their cost recovery.
So they've changed their position from "end-users have access as usual."
And if they start charging for it, the reasonable assumption is that end-users will have to pay.
And if they start charging for it, the reasonable assumption is that end-users will have to pay.
Also AeroNav will be posting a note about the meeting on their website today or soon.
AeroNav needs to recover the costs of compiling the charts by law. Paper chart sales are down as pilots move to various digital formats. $5MM needs to be recovered from digital chart sales.
Vendors are free to use the (generally zero cost) source data and design/compile their own charts, like Jeppesen and a few other companies do.
The goal of today was to meet with vendors who redistribute digital charts to find out viable ways to recover those costs. A public proposal will be coming, via a distribution mechanism not yet determined, for the public to review and comment on.
The FAA had a "pre-proposal" as a starting point, which centered around the idea of the vendors reporting their number of end users to the FAA and paying the appropriate fee.
The FAA had an estimated per user dollar figure ($5MM / estimate users) but industry widely disagreed with the number of users the FAA had estimated. I won't reproduce the FAA's estimate since I don't think it's accurate.
The vendors brainstormed for a couple hours and presented their ideas and concerns. AeroNav will consider everything presented and create a proposal for the administration and release it to the public, possibly as soon as January.