ATC Privatization Dead, And Hopefully Stays Dead

According to the FAA, “NextGen is the FAA-led modernization of our nation’s air transportation system. Its goal is to increase safety, efficiency, capacity, predictability, and resiliency of American aviation” (FAA, 2017). NextGen has all these effects by consolidating dozens of innovative technologies, capabilities, and procedures. The National Airspace System (NAS) with NextGen will transform how users see, navigate, and communicate. With ADS-B and other implementations, NextGen provides air traffic controllers with exact aircraft locations and a clear picture of surrounding conditions. NextGen includes a switch from ground-based to satellite-enabled navigation systems that are more precise. The satellites enable the FAA to create optimum routes anywhere in the NAS for departing, cruise altitude, approach and arrival operations. Data communications, a new digital communication method, help pilots and controllers communicate more quickly, more easily, and with less risk of miscommunication than radio (FAA, 2017).

GA has traditionally spoken against privatization because of the concern of user fees. A company in charge of air traffic controlled would be concerned about profit, while the current system is government service that isn’t designed as a for-profit enterprise. Recently, the EAA posted an article called “You Did It! GA Turns Back Privatization”. The article, posted at the end of February, announced that ATC privatization language has been removed from an FAA reauthorization bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, as a result of the efforts of more than 200 aviation associations and advocates (EAA, 2018).

The airlines have been in favor of ATC privatization. Airlines are pushing for privatization so that they can gain more control over air traffic control, so that they can get priority. According to an article by the Alliance for Aviation Across America, privatization “would allow the airlines to collude and engage in anti-competition behavior” and “privatization would not alleviate delays or costs” (Alliance for Aviation Across America).

Canada, north of us, is an example of a country that has privatized ATC. Air traffic has been controlled by Nav Canada, an Ottawa-based non-profit, since 1996. Nav Canada oversees air traffic control and Transport Canada oversees the safety of Nav Canada. Under the same model, the FAA would oversee the safety of a private ATC enterprise. The system would be funded by user fees. Privatized ATC systems are as safe as a government system, and in Canada, the ATC system is managed so that it breaks even every year, and last month, it announced a rate reduction and fee refund of $44.5 million US (Bachman, 2017).

For converting to a private system, a bill would have to go through Congress and the President would have to sign it. Since the privatization language was recently removed from the FAA reauthorization bill that is being worked on in the House, ATC privatization does not look like it has a strong likelihood of being implemented. A new bill would have to go through Congress, and the FAA would have to transfer the ATC system to a private organization. Trump says that privatized ATC is a “no-brainer”, but without Congressional support, Trump can’t mandate the FAA to privatize it.

I do not think that ATC privatization would be a good thing. Currently, most of the FAA’s funds are generated by taxes on aviation fuel, fees and taxes. The FAA is a government entity that can be unbiased about providing fair service at a fair price. The concern of a privatized ATC organization, is that airlines would receive preferential treatment, or be able to buy it, while general aviation users would be stuck with second-class service and user fees. As a general aviation pilot, I want to be able to fly freely, like aviation has been for the last hundred plus years.

Alliance for Aviation Across America. (n.d). The truth about big airlines push to privatize our 

nation’s air traffic control system. Aviation Across America. Retrieved from https://www .aviationacrossamerica.org/issues/privatization/

Bachman, J. (6 June 2017). Will privatized air traffic control put you in danger? Bloomberg.

Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-06/will-privatized-

air-traffic-control-put-you-in-danger

Experimental Aircraft Association. (27 February 2018). You did it! GA turns back privatization

grab, Experimental Aircraft Association. Retrieved from https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/e aa-news-and-aviation-news/news/02-28-2018-you-did-it-ga-turns-back-privatization-grab

Federal Aviation Administration. (4 December 2017). How NextGen works. Federal Aviation

Administration. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/