General aviation groups are continuing to step up their opposition to the independent air traffic control organization concept as the proposal advances through the House.  The House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee on Tuesday passed its version of comprehensive FAA reauthorization—including the proposal to carve the ATC organization out of the FAA—in a 32-25 largely party-line vote.

Following the vote, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association announced plans to issue an action call to its 350,000 members to speak out in opposition to stymie progress on the measure. “American aviation is the envy of the world, and general aviation is united in opposition to privatization and what it would do,” said AOPA president and CEO Mark Baker. “We support modernization, not privatization.”

While House leaders attempted to assuage concerns about the proposal with protections for general aviation access and exemptions from potential new user fees, the GA community has stood firm in its opposition. Baker called the efforts for the proposal’s primary backer, T&I committee chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania), well intended. But, he added, the concerns are the “risks of unintended consequences five or 10 years from now.” He noted the increased costs and restrictions that have occurred in other parts of the globe, and said AOPA members are highly concerned about a similar situation occurring in the U.S. During fly-ins and other events, Baker said, “They bring it up every time. They say, ‘Don’t let happen to us what’s happened to the rest of the world.’”

AOPA is among a number of business and general aviation organizations that have called on its members to weigh in. NBAA late last week issued a letter from president and CEO Ed Bolen urging action, saying, “The potential consequences from such a bill cannot be overstated…Our industry cannot be silent or complacent against these threats.”

The National Air Transportation Association also urged its members to voice their concerns to both the House and Senate. The association “continues to view the proposal as requiring general aviation and rural America to take an unnecessary leap of faith, including posing risks to stability of the world’s safest air traffic control system,” said NATA president and CEO Martin Hiller.

The bill, the 21st Century Aviation, Innovation, Reform and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, next must receive consideration from the full House. Last year the proposal passed through the committee but stalled before it could come up for a House vote.