The US government's National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC) has recommended that US air-traffic-control (ATC) services be removed from the US Federal Aviation Administration and placed with a "performance-based" organisation.
The NCARC proposal represents the latest effort to reform FAA financing and management.
The Commission - composed of aviation experts - was tasked to prepare recommendations on long-term FAA funding. The Preliminary Funding Task Force Report is being reviewed by US Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater. The White House has 30 days to file comments, and the final report is expected to be released by the NCARC in October.
The Clinton Administration previously failed to win Congressional approval to shift the FAA's ATC function into a quasi-Governmental corporation.
The NCARC says that ATC services should be placed in a new, business-like, organisation managed by a chief operating officer and overseen by a board of directors. The Commission also believes that FAA funding should be shielded from discretionary budget caps and recommends increased spending on ATC modernisation.
Source: Flight International
