SUNSHINE HELICOPTERS PHOTO
Air Tour C
Management Plans
Planning for Failure?
Flawed process raises deep concerns for aerial tour sector. By Jen Boyer
OMMERCIAL AIR TOURS OVER US FEDERAL LANDS under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service (NPS) are threatened, now more than ever. A 2020 order by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has resulted in considerable air
tour restrictions over 23 NPS areas. Te lawsuit resulted from the NPS and FAA’s failure to produce air tour management plans (ATMPs) as directed by the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000 (NPATMA). Since that court ruling, five NPS areas now have restrictive ATMPs in place and draft ATMPs have been published for 12 more. Air tour operators with permission to operate in these NPS areas
are scrambling to protect their operations. Meanwhile, they report a broken process where decisions critical to aviation safety are made without industry consultation and where the elimination of air tours over NPS lands appears to be the goal.
A Historic Battle Since the mid-1980s, the NPS has stated that by limiting air tours over the federal lands that it administers, it is protecting the environment and visitor experience, even though by some measures, air tours are
36 ROTOR DECEMBER 2022
less damaging to the environment than ground-based tours while also providing many with improved opportunities for access. By the late 1990s, regulations restricting air tours were well established in Grand Canyon National Park and NPS lands in Hawaii. Ten came the NPATMA, passed in April 2000. Te act required commercial air tour operators providing tours over
NPS or tribal lands to apply for authority to conduct those tours. Te application would then trigger a process where the FAA and the NPS would collaboratively develop an ATMP for the NPS area (the FAA’s involvement stems from its responsibility to protect airspace and aircraft operations, while the NPS is charged with managing and protecting the federal lands and parks under its jurisdiction). Te resulting ATMP would outline “acceptable and effective measures to mitigate or prevent the significant adverse impacts, if any, of commercial air tour operations upon the natural and cultural resources, visitor experiences, and tribal lands.” To ensure all interested voices were heard in ATMP processes, the
act required the formation of a National Parks Overflights Advisory Group (NPOAG), consisting of representatives of general aviation, commercial air tour operators, environmental groups, and Native
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