Jim Gray, the owner of Oakland Flyers, a plane rental service and flight school at Oakland Airport in the San Francisco Bay area, is billing the White House for more than $2,500 for business he says he’s lost because of a Presidential TFR.
According to a news report from ABC 7 in San Francisco, Gray says he about 10 of his flights were grounded during the President’s visit, so he’s prepared an invoice detailing the revenue he’s lost. And he’s sending it to both the White House and the Democratic National Committee. That includes not only plane rentals, but also canceled lessons for flight instructors.
on the one hand he gets it, on some issues where bush didn’t.Then again he is a liberal. I voted for Mcain. We all need to get more involved with our gvt.common sense has gone out the window. Not a happy camper. We should never close an airport
I’ll defer to the Secret Service as to what they need and won’t bitch when the President is in town. I remember when I was working as a builder for Questair at GSO we were not able to do demo flights or tests while Bush Sr. was in Greensboro. So we just stood in the hanger doors (watched by the Secret Service) as we marveled at Air Force One.
As I understand it the TFR is not that much for the Boeing, but for the places the President travels under the TFR space.
I think we all learned the hard way the creative methods people can come up with the kill Americans. I for one will cut the Secret Service and the FAA some slack on this one.
Now… about that rash of airport closures. That, Mr. President, needs to stop.
Good for him! Sure, respect for the President and all, but a TFR adds no meaningful security while costing a temporary collapse in the aviation community any time he flies.
A TFR is, what, 5 miles across? A small, cheap Cessna will cross that in 2-3 minutes, and a big jet (you know, with a useful payload) will cross that in 1. And any kind of military craft could cross that distance so quickly that ATC would barely have time to ask for a call sign.
Are you going to tell me that military jets are going to scram and be ready in that short of time, when the Pres isn’t even there? And even if some little 182 DID manage to get to the airport, what then? HIT Air Force 1?
What value does a TFR add? Really? I could maybe see an hour or so “no clearance to land” TFR while the pres gets out of the plane, but why all day?
Give me a bag. The “presidential TFR” only serves to punish law abiding, caring pilots while offering no meaningful protection from legitimate threats.