Tue, Mar 21, 2017
Says Multiple Issues Would Need To Be Resolved, And That Takes Time
The apparent support for privatizing Air Traffic Control in the FY2018 budget released the Trump White House last week has brought strong reaction from both sides of the issue, with airlines generally in favor of the move and GA and business aviation largely opposed.
Writing in The Hill, former AOPA president and CEO Craig Fuller, now a consultant on aviation issues, says that spinning off ATC to a private, non-profit entity could considerably slow the implementation of Nextgen. Fuller says there are two fundamental questions to be answered: does the aviation industry really want a "bold and transformational" change in what is recognized as the world's safest, largest and most complex air transportation system, and can the aviation community come to consensus on the governance, financing and operational priorities.
Fuller contends that such a move would slow the implementation of NextGen, designed to make air traffic control safer and more efficient.
Fuller writes that rather than spin off ATC, Congress needs to focus more pressing issues, such as "establishing a steady, reliable and predictable funding source, especially to move long-term capital projects such as air traffic modernization, airport infrastructure or aging facility recapitalization," and "consensus agreement with industry stakeholders on major investments and, based on this agreement, authority to expedite acquisition decisions."
Fuller says that the debate on privatizing ATC would be "the latest in a long record of similar debates that have yielded no successful conclusion."
(Image from file)
More News
The Industry Continues to be Rocked By Some Questionable Operations Recent investigations and a great deal of data has resulted in ANN’s SportPlane Resource Guide’s rep>[...]
Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you c>[...]
Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI) An airport lighting facility providing vertical visual approach slope guidance to aircraft during approach to landing by radiating a directio>[...]
Airport Marking Aids Markings used on runway and taxiway surfaces to identify a specific runway, a runway threshold, a centerline, a hold line, etc. A runway should be marked in ac>[...]
Aero Linx: The Skyhawk Association The Skyhawk Association is a non-profit organization founded by former Skyhawk Pilots which is open to anyone with an affinity for the A-4 Skyhaw>[...]