Wichita ? The nation’s aviation regulators would again be charged with promoting that industry under legislation U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt plans to introduce.

Tiahrt – flanked by top executives of Wichita’s three business aircraft manufacturers – talked Monday about his plans to add that mission to the duties of the Federal Aviation Administration.

“I believe it is imperative that the U.S. government is engaged in promoting an industry that has lost ground to government-subsidized companies throughout the world,” said Tiahrt, R-Kan. “We cannot continue to force our companies to compete on an uneven playing field.”

The advocacy mission was removed from the FAA charter in 1996 amid growing concern in Congress that the agency was getting too close to the industry it regulated.

But Tiahrt said it was not unusual for federal agencies to promote the industries they regulate, citing the Agriculture Department and Department of Commerce as examples.

His announcement, staged in front of the Kansas Aviation Museum, was welcomed by aviation officials in a city that calls itself the air capital of the world.

Tiahrt said it was a mistake to take the mission from the FAA in 1996.

“Nothing affects American aviation like our government, both positively and negatively,” said Cessna Aircraft Co. CEO Jack Pelton.

Peter Edwards, president of Bombardier Learjet’s business aircraft division, said the industry was facing new issues, ranging to the future funding of the FAA certification office to providing money for the expansion of air traffic control.

The announcement comes at a tumultuous time in Wichita’s aviation industry.

During the weekend, thousands of workers at Boeing Co.’s commercial aircraft plant in Wichita found out whether they would be hired by the facility’s Canadian buyer, Onex Corp. About 1,100 workers will not be hired by the plant’s new owners.