The FAA's Annual General Aviation and Part 135 Survey serves as the foundational data collection mechanism through which the agency estimates total fleet activity hours, calculates accident rates, and allocates safety resources across the non-airline aviation sector. NBAA's call for member participation reflects the association's recurring concern that business aviation operators — particularly those flying under Part 91, Part 91K, and Part 135 — are chronically underrepresented in survey responses, which can distort the statistical picture of how safely and how extensively this segment of aviation actually operates.
The survey's outputs carry consequences that extend well beyond academic reporting. FAA uses the resulting hours-flown estimates as denominators when computing fatal accident rates per 100,000 flight hours — the primary metric by which policymakers, insurers, and the public assess the safety trajectory of general and business aviation. When high-utilization operators such as fractional programs, charter companies, and large-fleet Part 91 operators fail to respond, total hours are underestimated, which can artificially inflate calculated accident rates. This misrepresentation risks triggering disproportionate regulatory scrutiny or resource reallocation away from segments that are, in practice, performing well on safety metrics.
For professional and corporate flight departments, participation also matters because the survey data informs FAA budget justifications for infrastructure, airspace modernization, and maintenance of navigational systems that business aviation depends on disproportionately relative to the airline sector. Programs like ADS-B infrastructure maintenance, IFR procedure development at non-hub airports, and staffing levels at approach control facilities serving reliever and general aviation airports are all subject to resource allocation decisions that reference GA activity data. Departments that do not participate are, in effect, allowing their operational footprint to go unaccounted in those discussions.
The broader trend here is one of increasing data-driven governance at the FAA, where survey participation is no longer a passive civic gesture but a strategic act for industry stakeholders. NBAA has consistently positioned the survey as a advocacy tool, noting that robust participation from its membership strengthens the association's hand when arguing against regulations or fees that would be justified by inaccurate baseline data. For operators flying turbine equipment under Part 135 or large-cabin jets under Part 91, the survey is one of the few direct channels through which operational reality is formally communicated to the agency outside of accident investigation or rulemaking comment periods. Given FAA's ongoing workforce and budget constraints as of mid-2026, accurate activity data is arguably more consequential now than in prior years.