A Bad Idea that Just Wont Die

With each new budget impasse, it seems theres a concerted effort to pass a law divesting ATC from the FAA to turn it over to a private Congressionally-chartered nonprofit corporation. Congressman Bill Shuster (D-PA), the powerful chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee offered two bills, HR 4441 in 2016 and HR 2997 in 2017. Fortunately, neither bill came to a vote because there was insufficient support.

Frank Bowlin

Friday, March 02, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Efforts led by Congressman Bill Shuster, supported by Airlines for America (A4A), repeatedly attempted to privatize Air Traffic Control (ATC) by transferring it from the FAA to a private nonprofit corporation.
Proponents justified privatization by claiming the current ATC system is "ancient" and inefficient, a claim the article refutes by highlighting ongoing FAA modernization efforts, significant cost savings, and misrepresentations about controller technology.
Strong opposition from over 200 aviation organizations, particularly due to concerns about user fees and potential negative impacts on General Aviation, combined with rejection by the Senate, ultimately stalled the privatization bills.

See a mistake? Contact us.

With each new budget impasse, it seems there’s a concerted effort to pass a law divesting ATC from the FAA to turn it over to a private Congressionally-chartered nonprofit corporation. Congressman Bill Shuster (D-PA), the powerful chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee offered two bills, HR 4441 in 2016 and HR 2997 in 2017. Fortunately, neither bill came to a vote because there was insufficient support.

The driving force behind the effort was Airlines for America (A4A), a lobbying group of eight U.S. airlines and Air Canada. Politico, a political journalism company, reported that Shuster was dating Shelley Rubino, then a top lobbyist at A4A, and they were seen poolside in Miami with Nick Calio, A4A’s president.