August 1, 2009 - Oshkosh, Wisconsin  - EAA Government Relations staff met with representatives of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Bureau of Customs & Border Protection (CBP), and AOPA on Friday afternoon to discuss ways of improving border crossings without imposing unnecessary burdens on general aviation aircraft.

EAA’s Randy Hansen explained that general aviation (GA) aircraft arriving or departing the United States have to get clearance through the CBP’s Automated Personal Information System (APIS), while some GA aircraft entering the United States need to obtain an international waiver from the TSA. Leaving and flying back thus requires two different approvals from two different agencies with different procedures and forms.

“We’d like to see the two systems married up under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),” Hansen said, “with the data transferable between outgoing and incoming approvals, and either TSA or CBP handling both types of approval.”

Another goal of the meeting was to simply meet with TSA officials, share concerns, and exchange ideas, Hansen said. Recent decisions at TSA affect all of GA. TSA officials have come here, in part, to better understand GA and its concerns.

“EAA can best serve its members and the whole GA community by sitting down with DHS officials and talking with them,” said Doug Macnair, EAA’s full-time representative in Washington, D.C. “Meetings like this during AirVenture can open new channels of communication and yield benefits for our members far into the future.”

Your EAA membership helps to support EAA’s efforts to Stand Up for GA. When you join EAA, you make a direct investment in the future of general aviation. Visit the EAA Welcome Center at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh or go online to www.eaa.org to find other easy and effective ways that you can Stand Up for GA.