Dear Ray
By Robert Mark on April 3rd, 2011Department of Transportation
Washington, DC
Really nice to hear from you again and yes, the family are all doing fine, thanks for asking. I forgot to ask you in my last letter how that new government job is working out. DOT Secretary … pretty awesome buddy. Who would ever have thought the President would give you – a real roads guy – that kind of job … and you an Illinois Republican too. You must have had some great chips to cash in. Way to go.
Anyway, I really wanted to give you a big pat on the back for making that trip to Wichita a few weeks back. They absolutely loved you down there. Red state too. Doesn’t get much easier, does it? That was such a good idea to mend some fences with those business folks too since that crazy speech of the President’s a couple years back talking about folks “hiding in their private jets.” Geeessh, man you ought to talk to him about that.
Listen I know you’re a busy guy these days, not like those Illinois days eh man? Anyway, I wanted to mention something that I think might have slipped your mind when you were in Wichita.
Remember that crazy discussion we had a few weeks back about keeping the registration numbers on business jets private rather than making all that work to open them up to anyone? Remember I was telling you how it creates more of an aviation security problem to fuss with this whole thing than it is to just leave it alone?
anyway, somehow, these other aviation folks think you’re in favor of making those numbers public and I keep trying to tell everyone they got it wrong cause that would be crazy, right? I mean why fix something that’s not broken?I mean President Obama is trying to make nice with the business world and you just came back from Wichita talking job, jobs and more jobs and business and things and here this change to those numbers is going really make all these big companies mad just when you’re trying to get them to like you again.
And on top of it, the way this whole thing is getting ramrodded by DOT, it makes it look like you had something personal going here and I know you don’t want that. I mean even I know they musta misquoted you when they said, you said that “blocking aircraft tail numbers was going give free rein to drug dealers.” I mean how silly is that one huh? Thank goodness I know you better than that.
Of course I do remember you telling me you thought it was kinda silly to block tail numbers for some other reason although I can’t think of what the point was now come to think of it., But we know you have to bend a bit now and then, don’t you? Heck, listen to me telling a politician he ought to be political. Man!
Let’s be serious though, that registration system to keep numbers private has been working fine for a decade and no one has complained except that one reporter who filed the Freedom of Information Act request. Why change something because one reporter complained. It’s one silly reporter. Heck man, he’ll get over it.
And heck Ray, you have more important things to worry about too I’ll bet, like how to get the House and Senate to agree on this new FAA funding thing. Boy that has been going on for a long time. Don’t you have something to do with making that all work?
I’m hoping my note gets to you in time, because tomorrow is April 4th, the last day for public comments on this new tail number privacy blocking thing. I figured you just got distracted and all – probably all that work on the big FAAC project you were telling me about I bet. Anyway, I knew other folks wouldn’t know you like I do and I knew you’d want to do the right thing an all and not piss off all the business people we’re trying to get back on our side.
I better close now. Gotta go get ready for that weekly radio show. Did I tell you about the Airplane Geeks? Thousands of aviation listeners and all … gotten to be quite a big deal, but I’ll tell you more about that another time.
Best to the family from another Illinois guy Ray.
Your friend,
Rob Mark
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April 4th, 2011 at 8:38 am
So all the information for private aircraft is available from the FAA website but the registration information for jets is blocked? I didn’t know that. Somehow it seems rather unfair that anyone can look up my registration number and find out who owns the plane, what it is and my address but not for a corporate jet. What is the logic behind that? It should either all be private or all be public. Make information for all aircraft available to the public. I think any “security” issues are minimal.
April 4th, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Hi Rob, unfortunately that’s the way it appears to be aaaall over the world…a reporter or two(who have the mass comunications power) make overreact some politicians(who have the power of making laws) against the technical and therefore right advise of aviation specialists. Keep trying my friend, for the good of aviation!
April 13th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Rodney,
You’ve got it all wrong. It’s not as simple as you make it sound. Just because you’ve got a jet doesn’t make your number blocked. That’s pretty ridiculous ya know? Anyone can apply for this and you MUST apply for it. It’s not automatic just because you have a “corporate jet”. If my boss doesn’t want everybody with an internet connection, including his business competition, to see where he’s flying then he has that right. What gives these people the right to see where we are going? Do you want a monitor on your car that shows everyone where you are going? Remember, you’re driving on roads paid for with taxpayer money now so that argument doesn’t fly in the sky either.