The National Air Transportation Association is urging members to take part in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) annual GA Survey, citing the fact it is the only source for important information on the general aviation fleet, the number of hours flown, and the reasons people use general aviation aircraft.
The results of the survey will be used to determine funding for infrastructure and service needs in addition for research and analysis of general aviation issues, said the organization. “The GA Survey will also be used to prepare safety statistics and, under a recent FAA safety initiative, calculate the rate of accidents among general aviation aircraft,” said NATA in a message to members. “The entire general aviation community benefits from high quality information on the number and activity of general aviation aircraft. But to obtain an accurate picture of the general aviation fleet, full participation from all aircraft owners in the survey sample is essential.”
The FAA is targeting a 100 percent participation of Part 135 and turbine aircraft for the survey and NATA said a specialized version of the survey has been developed to reduce the reporting burden for multiple-aircraft owners/operators. The version allows activity to be reported for an entire fleet on a single shortened form, instead of completing a longer questionnaire for each aircraft, it said.
The GA Survey has been conducted annually since 1999 by PA Consulting Group, an independent research firm which reports out without any identifying information.