Privatize air traffic control to save the FAA? First, let 144 million U.S. travelers have their say...

Proposed transfer of America's air traffic control system puts profits over people and gives airlines ultimate control of the skies

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Let’s face it: the glory days of glamorous, leisurely air travel are a thing of the past. What used to be a luxury has become a master class in mediocrity.

Where does the blame largely fall? Not surprisingly, to the airlines and their relentless cost cutting in pursuit of profits — which has, in turn, eliminated the cheerful customer service, in-flight snacks, free checked bags, orderly boarding procedures, etc. So, while company shareholders, investors, and insiders at The Big Four have benefitted, the flying public has not.

Heck, even the widths of airline seats now factor into the math equation: how can major carriers, in this case, American Airlines, squeeze even more passengers onto the same size aircraft? Are 737's actually getting bigger?

A few weeks ago, a consumer advocacy group named Flyers Rights who initially challenged the FAA in 2015 and later in the Federal Appeals Court finally received a ruling in their favor. One of the judges called it "the Case of the Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat." The FAA was taken to task on the issue of seat sizing – as a matter of comfort over safety – and was ordered to address the issue. It was a rare win for passengers and their leg room.

Sadly, profit over people has become the name of the game. Top management at major carriers are quick to say “Well, flying used to cost travelers much more decades ago and there were far fewer flights and destinations in those days…”

O.K. yeah, fewer people actually flew in the 1970’s, so air carriers didn’t have the volume that they do today. But fast forward to 2017 and passengers have to deal with exhaustive security measures, delayed (and outright canceled) flights with little warning, and increasingly, stressed-out and overworked gate personnel, flight attendants and pilots. The entire business model of commercial air travel has become dated and devolved — with many examples of brand name airlines barely staying solvent, let alone being profitable.

Well, major U.S. airlines and their parade of lobbyists are at it again, this time with a plan to “privatize” air traffic control as a means of advancing the conversation on infrastructure in the United States, but it amounts to little more than a cash grab.

Every American citizen that gets on an airplane for business or leisure travel should care about this ill-advised plan to reduce FAA control, and here's why:

Transferring control of FAA assets and responsibilities and their 35,000+ employees to a non-governmental agency is a costly proposition which affects the flying public, thousands of smaller, regional airports, hobbyists and even law enforcement practices nationwide. Commercial airlines have also gone on the record to say that they will dedicate more resources to those major markets where the greatest profits can be found. It basically allows The Big Four to put a price tag on our airspace and make no mistake, consumers will lose.

While it is true in some regards that America’s procedurally and technologically-deficient air traffic control operation run by the FAA is stuck decades in the past, this is not the way to move forward. With the federal reauthorization date looming in September for the FAA, it makes sense to invest in that agency with a concrete list of achievable objectives, rather than privatize. At the core of the issue is Congressional funding to the FAA, which has been a series of short-term funding allocations over the years rather than a serious long-term solution that would provide stability.

The 21st Century Aviation Innovation Reform and Reauthorization Act (21st Century AIRR) (H.R. 2997) proposed by House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania) misses the mark in a big way.

Nothing in this privatization plan being discussed in Congress addresses the $100 billion in infrastructure upgrades currently needed to renovate terminals and repair runways, alleviate congestion and upgrade safety and flight management systems nationwide either. The 21st Century AIRR Act further stacks the deck in favor of major U.S. airlines, who would comprise part of the 13-member board, but would overwhelmingly exert the most influence.

But what is seriously lacking here is the voice and representation of the flying public on this “independent” board. Again, profit over people.

Overhauling dated policies, improving morale and diversity, and continuing to roll out new technology at the FAA are good areas of focus and should be the investment priority. Many smaller airports in the United States, for instance, still rely on ground-based radar systems known as Host, a 40-year-old technology that predates GPS by decades. Upgrades that have been promised for years are still not complete and are now billions of dollars over budget.

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), initially proposed by the FAA in 2003 has been plagued by a litany of issues. The modern NextGen system exclusively utilizes satellites high above Earth and state-of-the-art technology to improve efficiency, safety, congestion and even wasted fuel for the 5,000 or so flights that are cruising over the United States at any given time.

In just the past three years, remarkable progress has been made at the agency, especially given the surging number of domestic passengers. Safety is still the #1 goal and roughly 80 percent of domestic U.S. flights are fairly reliable and on time after all.

Think about this for a minute: the FAA handled 16,054,495 flights last year and U.S. airlines handled a total of 823 million passengers, a new all-time high.

Supporters of The 21st Century AIRR Act – largely embedded representatives of major air carriers, President Trump and the labor union representing air traffic controllers – note that their government-chartered, not-for-profit model is based on NAV CANADA, a government spin-off by our northern neighbors over two decades ago. NAV CANADA is indeed a model of efficiency but handles far less overall flight volume than its counterpart in the United States. Canada, Great Britain, Australia, France, Germany and New Zealand have all transitioned their air traffic control responsibilities to quasi-government agencies over the years in hopes of achieving cost savings, albeit with mixed success.

The United States boasts the busiest, most complex and safest air traffic control system in the world according to the GAO and notably, the FAA would continue to be responsible for safety oversight and regulation under the proposed Act.

These same privatization supporters claim long-term savings to the flying public exist at some point, but they are very quick to dismiss the massive cost burden transferred to U.S. taxpayers to create an entirely new framework, as they talk up their “private businesses are more efficient” points. The ballpark number to create the American Air Navigation Services Corporation has skyrocketed from an initial rollout cost of $20 billion to nearly $100 billion over the next ten years as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. The privatization plan has also drawn the ire of the House Ways and Means Committee which oversees tax policy.

In the proposed structure, directors at the new American Air Navigation Services Corporation would have a fiduciary duty to the not-for-profit corporation itself with the aim being to prohibit them from having ties to any key stakeholders, i.e. conflicts of interest – but I'm not buying it and nor should you.

Why would we privatize air traffic control responsibilities and transfer this risk to American taxpayers? What happens if this scheme doesn't go according to plan? We've already had to bail out big banks and big insurance companies just to keep the American economy from grinding to a halt.

Privatization is generally about opening up markets to entrepreneurs and free-market competition in an effort to reduce costs. This bill does none of that. It simply shifts costs to consumers, small aviation companies and American taxpayers.

It's important to note that many general aviation leaders and our elected officials, Democrats and Republicans alike, were opposed to the privatization efforts when the costs were much, much lower. It's unlikely that this bill gets anywhere near a vote now. All parties concerned including the airlines themselves recognize that reassigning control over America's skies is a massive undertaking and requires serious discussion and public input.

Efforts to decouple the FAA and air traffic control have been proposed before and have been soundly rejected since George H.W. Bush was president. Republican leaders have never even succeeded in getting these proposals to a floor vote.

Moreover, it's widely acknowledged by both sides that these same major airlines continue to be susceptible to technology failures, cyber security risks, and declining customer service. Much of the airline delays in the country are blamed on weather and the airlines themselves according to a report in Business Insider from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Furthermore, nearly all of the major airlines have also gone bankrupt or been consolidated over past decades, which doesn't provide much confidence to travelers.

Mark Baker, the President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), representing the largest member constituency of pilots and owners in the world from some 75 countries, issued the following statement on the plan to privatize:

“A hundred billion dollars? Really? So here’s how it shapes up: The legislation would hand over the air traffic control system to the airlines, who are behind in equipping with the latest technology and responsible for 50 percent of delays; it would create a too-big-to-fail monopoly; and now it will cost taxpayers almost $100 billion dollars to create a new system when the one we have is the envy of the world. How can anyone think this is a good idea? Imagine if we used that effort and money to continue modernizing an incredibly safe system that is already the envy of the world. Then we’d really have something.”

Perhaps the most high profile opponent of the privatization efforts is Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the U.S. Airways pilot that miraculously landed a jet with no power in the Hudson River in 2009 saving all lives onboard. Captain Sullenberger has more than 50 years of general aviation experience and recently spoke up on behalf of the Alliance for Aviation Across America against privatization efforts. Let that sink in for a minute: a veteran pilot of a major airline is solidly opposed.

“I know what works and what doesn’t,” Sullenberger says. “Our air traffic control system is the best, the safest in the world. Why would we give such an important valuable national asset to the largest airlines – the same airlines...who often put expedience and cost-reduction ahead of the safety and welfare of others?”

The key for consumers here is to contact your elected officials and encourage them to limit the outside influence from industry lobbying organizations and the airlines themselves. Millions of lobbying dollars have already been spent over the years trying to privatize American aviation systems under the guise of reform and most of us agree that it is one of the few regulatory functions that the federal government actually does well. Commercial aviation in the United States represents 5 percent of our nation's GDP, provides jobs to 11 million people and rings the register to the tune of $1.6 trillion dollars. Trillion with a "T."

However, the September 30th deadline to reauthorize the FAA is quickly approaching. The risk now is that legislation will be rushed along and done behind closed doors similar to the proposed health care overhaul, and without careful deliberation, could affect 144 million American travelers and our most vital industry. It's imperative that we continue to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to oversee air traffic control.

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