When the Pirates season swings into action this spring, don't look for any low-flying planes towing advertising banners near PNC Park.
Airspace below 3,000 feet and within a three-mile radius of major sporting events has become a virtual no-fly zone -- except for emergency aircraft and limited other exceptions -- thanks to federal legislation passed in the name of national security.
The measure, added to a congressional spending bill approved in February, will restrict airspace near active sports stadiums for at least a year. Supporters call it a safeguard against terrorism, but some Pittsburgh-area aerial advertising vendors see it as an infringement on their rights to do business.
"It's absolutely not fair at all," said Tarentum-based AAA Sky Ads owner Fred Eiler, whose family has operated a banner-towing business in the region since 1948. "Little airplanes didn't fly into the World Trade Center or the Pentagon. They haven't banned the airlines from flying."
The aerial advertising industry has faced increasing constraints since terrorists hijacked planes for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. For a period in 2002, federal officials issued waivers to pilots of banner-toting aircraft, but last September the U.S. Transportation Security Administration rescinded the waivers, citing the orange-alert level issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
The new legislation, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican, extended the ban for at least a year by cutting off funding for the administrative costs associated with the waiver program.
"Fred has no animosity towards banner-flying planes over stadiums. In fact, he proposed to his wife with a banner over Camden Yards in Baltimore," said Sean Bonyun, Upton's spokesman.
"This is an issue of public safety. Unfortunately, we live in a time where we need to be concerned with the potential of biological or chemical attacks that can cause mass casualties in a matter of minutes," Bonyun said.
Eiler's plane has tugged ads in the sky above crowds at Pirates and Steelers games in past seasons. Between games and other big events, he's also towed his share of "Will You Marry Me" and "Happy Birthday" signs. Eiler once hauled a sign that said: "Don't Marry Me."
"Around here, that business really is Steelers games and sporting events. That's 90 percent of my banner-towing, so that hurts," he said. "Fortunately, I have other sources of income."
John Addison, chief pilot and vice president of marketing for Hot Air Balloons of Pittsburgh, also believes the restrictions are unfair. Balloons are treated the same as airplanes under the regulations.
"The small companies don't have the (lobbying) punch that the large airlines do. We don't have any punch," he said. "The trouble is, there is a lot of paranoia going on here. They're concerned that terrorists or anybody could take a balloon, fly the balloon over a populated stadium, and dump stuff out. It's not likely."
Bonyun said Upton's bill doesn't stop the banner-towing aircraft from circling stadiums an hour before and an hour after games.
"The tailgaters are going to still be there," he said.
At least those aerial shots during television broadcasts aren't in danger: The measure, Bonyun said, doesn't affect pilots of Goodyear's blimps.
