Air Transport: Fight for nations skies intensifies
Three months.That’s how long Congress has to debate and pass a reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). And while federal lawmakers have been holding panels debating myriad topics that will be included in the final text, and legislators from all corners of the government have been weighing in on airline topics of the day, it isn’t a lot of time to hammer out the finer points of such an important piece of legislation.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing in early June to focus on exactly that topic, and to get to the bottom of President Donald Trump’s recent proposal to privatize the air traffic control sector.
In the hearing’s opening remarks, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., ranking member of the committee, first said that any bill will likely require bipartisan support, noting that the last reauthorization from 2016 sailed through the Senate on a 95-to-3 vote. After highlighting the accomplishments of that bill—namely aviation consumer protections and FAA certification changes—he lamented that it was “thwarted” in the House as representatives sought to remove air traffic control functions from the administration.
So the quest to privatize the nation’s air traffic system is certainly nothing new, but this time around, the idea is picking up more steam than ever before. It certainly helps that Trump is getting behind the shift in the FAA’s priorities, but the issue is still stirring intense debate and heated arguments on both sides.
“I am opposed to air traffic control privatization—no matter what form it might take,” Nelson said in his opening statement. “We currently have the safest air traffic control system in the world. Why risk that by handing the whole thing over to an untested, unproven entity? And why give away billions of dollars in government assets to an entity that will be governed in large part by the airlines?”
Nelson said some Republicans he’s talked with are also against privatization—that the change isn’t a clear-cut, partisan issue—because they think it doesn’t make any sense. He also said the discussion is distracting Congress from the FAA reauthorization issues that truly matter.
In testimony before the committee, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao argued in favor of privatizing the nation’s air traffic control system because of the need for added flexibility, the ability to respond to new challenges that arise and increased pressures on the system.
According to Chao, separating air traffic control duties from the FAA would allow the agency to focus on oversight and safety, as well as streamline approvals, eliminating government bureaucracy and allowing the system to integrate new technologies and respond to challenges in real time.
Her statements echoed the vision of Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., chairman of the committee, which he laid out after Trump released a set of principles for the domestic air traffic control system.
“The Federal Aviation Administration’s effort to improve air travel safety and efficiency by modernizing air traffic control has been hindered by bureaucratic obstacles and poor planning,” he said. “While we’ve spent billions on upgrades, independent assessments have warned that the promised benefits for the flying public may never be realized if we continue on under the status quo.”
During the hearing, Thune said privatization is needed because, among other reasons, “outside auditors have dinged the government’s performance on delivering safety and efficiency upgrades, prompting a debate as to the best path forward to realize those benefits.”
NextGen, the FAA’s quest to modernize domestic aviation infrastructure, has not proceeded according to plan, primarily because of government oversight, Chao said, adding that removing air traffic control from the FAA would help speed along this modernization process.
During all this, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has also been pushing for privatization. The committee’s website has links to editorial board columns in four national papers in favor of the shift and it also released a letter from three former FAA officials supporting the effort.
Russell Chew, Henry Krakowski and David Grizzle, all prior chief operating officers at the agency, wrote to “urge bipartisan support for transformational change of our national air traffic control system,” calling President Trump’s privatization outline “bold action” that is needed to keep aviation technology from becoming further outdated.
Right now, the only certainty is that nothing is certain. In a reaction to the privatization drumbeat, Democrats in the House have introduced the Aviation Funding Stability Act, which would move the debate away from privatization.
“If we truly want to fix the real problems facing the FAA today, the solution is simple: Congress can and should pass targeted reforms,” the bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said. “I urge my Republican colleagues to reject air traffic control privatization, and support our proposal for real, achievable modernization and reform.”
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing in early June to focus on exactly that topic, and to get to the bottom of President Donald Trump’s recent proposal to privatize the air traffic control sector.
In the hearing’s opening remarks, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., ranking member of the committee, first said that any bill will likely require bipartisan support, noting that the last reauthorization from 2016 sailed through the Senate on a 95-to-3 vote. After highlighting the accomplishments of that bill—namely aviation consumer protections and FAA certification changes—he lamented that it was “thwarted” in the House as representatives sought to remove air traffic control functions from the administration.
“We currently have the safest air traffic control system in the world. Why risk that by handing it over to an untested, unproven entity and give away billions of dollars in government assets?” - Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
Of course, this provision ultimately didn’t make it into the final bill, but the calls for air traffic control privatization have only grown louder this year.So the quest to privatize the nation’s air traffic system is certainly nothing new, but this time around, the idea is picking up more steam than ever before. It certainly helps that Trump is getting behind the shift in the FAA’s priorities, but the issue is still stirring intense debate and heated arguments on both sides.
“I am opposed to air traffic control privatization—no matter what form it might take,” Nelson said in his opening statement. “We currently have the safest air traffic control system in the world. Why risk that by handing the whole thing over to an untested, unproven entity? And why give away billions of dollars in government assets to an entity that will be governed in large part by the airlines?”
Nelson said some Republicans he’s talked with are also against privatization—that the change isn’t a clear-cut, partisan issue—because they think it doesn’t make any sense. He also said the discussion is distracting Congress from the FAA reauthorization issues that truly matter.
In testimony before the committee, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao argued in favor of privatizing the nation’s air traffic control system because of the need for added flexibility, the ability to respond to new challenges that arise and increased pressures on the system.
According to Chao, separating air traffic control duties from the FAA would allow the agency to focus on oversight and safety, as well as streamline approvals, eliminating government bureaucracy and allowing the system to integrate new technologies and respond to challenges in real time.
Her statements echoed the vision of Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., chairman of the committee, which he laid out after Trump released a set of principles for the domestic air traffic control system.
“The Federal Aviation Administration’s effort to improve air travel safety and efficiency by modernizing air traffic control has been hindered by bureaucratic obstacles and poor planning,” he said. “While we’ve spent billions on upgrades, independent assessments have warned that the promised benefits for the flying public may never be realized if we continue on under the status quo.”
During the hearing, Thune said privatization is needed because, among other reasons, “outside auditors have dinged the government’s performance on delivering safety and efficiency upgrades, prompting a debate as to the best path forward to realize those benefits.”
NextGen, the FAA’s quest to modernize domestic aviation infrastructure, has not proceeded according to plan, primarily because of government oversight, Chao said, adding that removing air traffic control from the FAA would help speed along this modernization process.
During all this, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has also been pushing for privatization. The committee’s website has links to editorial board columns in four national papers in favor of the shift and it also released a letter from three former FAA officials supporting the effort.
Russell Chew, Henry Krakowski and David Grizzle, all prior chief operating officers at the agency, wrote to “urge bipartisan support for transformational change of our national air traffic control system,” calling President Trump’s privatization outline “bold action” that is needed to keep aviation technology from becoming further outdated.
Right now, the only certainty is that nothing is certain. In a reaction to the privatization drumbeat, Democrats in the House have introduced the Aviation Funding Stability Act, which would move the debate away from privatization.
“If we truly want to fix the real problems facing the FAA today, the solution is simple: Congress can and should pass targeted reforms,” the bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said. “I urge my Republican colleagues to reject air traffic control privatization, and support our proposal for real, achievable modernization and reform.”
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