AIA Responds to President’s Budget: Strong Support for Defense, More Needed for Space and Innovation

Arlington, Va. - Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President and CEO Eric Fanning today welcomed the President's fiscal year 2027 budget request for its strong investments in defense, while underscoring the need to strengthen America's innovation enterprise:

"The President's budget request lays a strong foundation for America's aerospace and defense industry because it provides what we need most: clear demand signals that tell companies where to invest, what to build, and how to plan for the future," Fanning said. "While the proposal is strong - particularly for defense - the Aerospace Industries Association will continue working with the Administration and Congress to support sustained investment in priority research and development and innovation programs within the FAA and NASA.

"The defense budget reflects what AIA has consistently called for: resources aligned with real-world threats and the need to deter them," Fanning continued. "Strong investments into the defense industrial base - with a focus on next-generation capabilities, shipbuilding, critical munitions, and domestic production of critical minerals - will help drive innovation and increase capacity up and down the supply chain.

"Investments into modernizing the National Airspace System are crucial as the commercial aviation industry continues to see unprecedented demand," Fanning said. "This budget will help take the next steps to overhaul the air traffic control system, bringing it into the 21^st century and enhance the aviation safety workforce and controller training and hiring initiative. We appreciate the President's attention to this much-needed infrastructure upgrade for critical systems that keep Americans safe while they fly.

"The budget reinforces NASA's goal of a permanent American presence on the Moon - enabling new technologies that will take us to Mars and preserving American leadership in deep space exploration," Fanning finished. "To achieve this goal, America needs the Space Launch System, which is currently the only human-rated launch vehicle available to NASA proven to reach the Moon. As we saw from this week's Artemis II launch, SLS is ready and performing. Without continued investment in spaceflight capabilities like SLS, space stations, and scientific research, we risk ceding our global innovative edge to adversaries."

To learn more about AIA's budget priorities for the Federal Aviation Administration, click here.

To learn more about AIA's budget priorities for NASA and other space and science programs, click here.

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