Airport leaders, AOPA urge committee to oppose repeal of sales‑tax exemption for aircraft

Tom Hurley, executive director of the Massachusetts Airport Management Association, told the Joint Committee on Revenue that H.3123 and S.1923 — bills to repeal the sales‑tax exemption for aircraft — would threaten the viability of the state's 37 public‑use airports and the jobs they support.

"Eliminating the sales tax would eliminate the incentive to and would create an incentive to simply move aircraft from Massachusetts to the adjoining states," Hurley testified, noting that neighboring states already offer similar exemptions and that aviation contributes broadly to the state's economy.

Sean Collins of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) reinforced that general aviation is mobile and cost‑sensitive. "The general aviation industry is a highly mobile industry... expense is always the principal motivator in determining where to base an aircraft," Collins said, and he noted that the exemption mainly benefits municipally owned airports and helps them compete with neighboring states.

Hurley cited the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division's estimate of annual economic output for the state's airport system and warned of downstream effects on training programs and aviation workforce development at community colleges and technical schools.

Committee members asked about estimated revenue gains versus economic losses and about regional tax competition. No vote was taken; witnesses urged the committee to consider system‑level economic impacts and the risk of relocation of based aircraft.