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.
