{
  "id": "RL30050",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30050",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 103294,
      "date": "1999-02-03",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:47:05.896941",
      "title": "Aviation: Direct Federal Spending, 1918-1998",
      "summary": "The federal government has played a large role in the development of aviation. In the ten years\nprior\nto 1918 this role was exclusively military in origin. Beginning in 1918, with the first air mail flights,\ncommercial aviation became a growing focus of federal attention and assistance. In the intervening\n80 years the federal government has spent $155 billion in support of aviation activities.\n  This report details, and comments on, federal assistance provided directly in support of\ncommercial aviation. Direct assistance in this view can take several forms; for example, the physical\ncomponents of the air traffic control system can be regarded as infrastructure; direct payments to\nairlines can be regarded as subsidies, and the operating expenses of the Federal Aviation\nAdministration (FAA) and its predecessor agencies can be construed as operational support. Indirect\nassistance, such as that provided through military research and development (R&D), and by\nR&D\nprovided by agencies other than the Department of Transportation and its predecessor agencies is\nnot detailed in this report.\n  In the early years of federal support for aviation most assistance came in the form of designated\nsubsidies to foster the growth of what has become the commercial aviation industry. This was in\nkeeping with the aviation sector's embryonic nature. As the industry has matured, the level and\nexpense of the federal effort has expanded and spending for capital infrastructure and operational\nactivities have become specific components of annual federal budgets.\n  The debate today is not so much about whether a federal role in aviation is appropriate. Rather\nthe debate is about how to pay for federal programs and who should pay for it. In the first half of\nthis century almost all aviation expenses came from U.S. Treasury general funds. In the trust fund\nera this contribution has diminished as designated user fees have provided a majority of direct\naviation-related funding. The general fund contribution, however, remains significant, and\ncontroversial.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL30050",
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          "images": null
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      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy",
    "Transportation Policy"
  ]
}