FAA Score Card

In June 2017, President Trump led off Infrastructure Week with his plan to move ATC to a nonprofit, private corporation. With two bills already in Congress, D. J. Gribben, special assistant to the president for infrastructure, called it low-hanging fruit from a policy perspective. Little did he know how incendiary the word privatization is to the aviation community. Mr. Gribben often uses this word, but savvy proponents avoid it and even refute those who use it.

IFR Staff

Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A 2017 proposal by President Trump to privatize U.S. air traffic control (ATC) was met with strong opposition, failed to pass Congress, and is considered effectively lifeless, with its main proponent not seeking re-election.
The core challenges facing the FAA are unstable funding mechanisms (due to short-term reauthorizations, shutdowns, and sequestration) and internal bureaucratic inefficiencies that hinder its ability to modernize rapidly and efficiently, particularly with the NextGen program.
An alternative legislative proposal (H.R. 2800) aims to stabilize FAA funding by exempting the Airport and Airway Trust Fund from political appropriation and streamlining procurement to facilitate essential modernization efforts.

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In June 2017, President Trump led off Infrastructure Week with his plan to move ATC to a nonprofit, private corporation. With two bills already in Congress, D. J. Gribben, special assistant to the president for infrastructure, called it “low-hanging fruit from a policy perspective.” Little did he know how incendiary the word “privatization” is to the aviation community. Mr. Gribben often uses this word, but savvy proponents avoid it and even refute those who use it.

Not Privatization

They’re right. It’s not privatization according to The American Conservative Union Foundation’s seven principles of privatization. Applied to H.R. 2997, the “AIRR” Act, it failed to meet five of the criteria.