A renewed push to separate air traffic control (ATC) from the Federal Aviation Administration arose again in Washington on 12 December, as lawmakers consider means of addressing the problem of ageing ATC technology.
The FAA currently operates ATC under its Air Traffic Organization arm, though for years various parties have pursued on-again, off-again efforts to strip the agency of that function.
The effort last gained traction during the first administration of Republic president Donald Trump but lost steam amid the tenure of Democrat Joe Biden.
Republicans have been more receptive to the idea, which was re-floated on 12 December during a Senate aviation panel hearing. The hearing comes weeks before the balance of power is set to change in Washington with the scheduled inauguration of Trump on 20 January.
“Separating the provision of air navigation services from the civil aviation authority and putting the [air navigation service provider] at arm’s length from its safety regulator… is now the globally recognised best practice,” Marc Scribner, senior transportation policy analyst at libertarian think tank Reason Foundation, tells lawmakers.
“Almost all industrial countries have adopted a public utility” ATC model, he adds.
The FAA did not respond to a request for comment.
Proponents say an ATC organisation free from the FAA and paid by users would have more-predictable funding and be better able to manage technology improvements.
Democrat lawmakers have opposed previous such overhauls, as have groups like National Business Travel Association and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, which argue the changes could hinder airspace access for operators of business and private aircraft.
In 2017, president Donald Trump proposed removing ATC from the FAA and putting it under a new nonprofit entity. Supporters included airline trade group Airlines for America (A4A) and its airline members. The effort fizzled after a lead proponent, then-House Transportation Committee chair Bill Shuster, left Congress. Control of the house then shifted to Democrats.
A4A did not immediately respond to a request for comment about its current stance.
“I think this reform could have a serious chance this time around,” says Bob Poole, also with Reason Foundation, who has advocated the idea for decades.
He thinks stripping ATC from the FAA could find support under Trump’s second term. Trump’s planned Department of Government Efficiency office, to be led by Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, might embrace the idea, he adds. “The numerous ATC problems over the last two years have made the need for serious reforms far more widely known to the public policy community and national news media.”
The FAA has been widely criticised for being under-resourced and slow with modernisation initiatives, due to factors including cultural and bureaucratic issues and reliance on Congress for funding.
Those problems, and potential solutions, were the subject of the 12 December hearing.
“FAA’s reliance on a large percentage of ageing and unsustainable or potentially unsustainable ATC systems introduces risks,” Kevin Walsh, director at the US Government Accountability Office, tells lawmakers. “The agency’s progress to modernise some of the most-critical and at-risk systems has been slow.”
Other witnesses included Air Line Pilots Association, International president Jason Ambrosi, who stressed the need for more airports to have surveillance systems that can help prevent runway collisions.
Witnesses also agreed on the need for the FAA’s ATC operation to hire more workers.
