One topic that has sparked much debate is the proposal to switch the government run air traffic control services to an independent company outside of the federal government. This is in an effort to modernize the United States' national airspace system. There are many people who oppose this proposal and many who are supporting it. Before going into the details of this proposal, lets look at our current ATC system.
The current ATC system is government run by the Federal Aviation Administration. The current fundamentals of the system include ground based facilities which aid in ground movement and movement once airborne (Freudenrich 2001). It is important to note that the main function of ATC is to provide separation for IFR (Instrument flight rules) traffic and also offer services to VFR (visual flight rules) traffic who request it (Air Traffic Control serves you 2010). The current system uses radar as a means of providing separation. This is done with the help of a transponder. A transponders job is to detect radar signals sent from the ground equipment and broadcast information back to the controller (Freudenrich 2001). The airspace is broken up into different segments. An example being, a pilot is given clearance to depart from a local tower, upon which they will then contact a departure controller. Once out of their specific airspace the pilots will be handed off to center. After exiting center's airspace they will then be handed off to an approach controller who will hand the pilots off to the local tower controller at the destination airport. The pilot will have to contact ground for taxiing instructions at towered airports (Freudenrich 2001).
The proposed NextGen system is said to help the National Airspace system catch up with the current times and get up to speed with the congested airspace (NextGen-Air Traffic Control Modernization). According to Sarina Houston, NexGen is "a series of initiatives" made over a course of time to bring the system up to speed (2016). NexGen intends to add the satellite component using the Global Positioning System to replace the radar that has been in place (NextGen-Air Traffic Control Modernization). Some of the initiatives include Automatic-Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast- system (ADSB). Essentially, the aircraft equipment will broadcast information such as location and altitude to controllers and other aircraft(if installed) via satellite radio signals (Houston 2016). Also, Data Communication is a big step for pilots in that it will allow pilots and controllers to receive textual clearances. There are many more steps involved in bringing NextGen online but the bottom line is it is intended to save money in the way of shorter routes, and lowering the congestion of the system for efficiency (Houston 2016).
In general, the general aviation community opposes privatization because it creates a level of uncertainty for the GA pilots. The uncertainty lies in fees to use the system, and how it will affect GA use. There is also a belief that the GA population will not be well represented as the board in charge would be either elected representatives or from airlines (Pope 2016). On the other side the vast majority of U.S. airlines support the bill mainly due to the fact that the FAA has been very slow in putting NextGen in place. By privatizing it, it would possibly allow for the system to modernize to where it should be rather than be bogged down by funding/ implementation issues (Naylor, 2015). The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists- PASS is an organizations that opposes the privatization of the ATC system. PASS's view on privatization is that the privatization would create an "unnecessary level of risk and uncertainty,"as the Unites States has one of the safest system in the world (PASS Statement on passage of FAA Reauthorization Bill). The National Air Traffic Control Association (NATCA) supports privatization because the current FAA run system has had many issues with funding these recent years and there is uncertainty for the future (NH Labor News 2016).
Air Traffic Control privatization is seen in New Zealand, Europe and Canada. The private operator being Nav Canada, is a non-profit company. It is run by user fees which are based on the aircraft type, and distance traveled (Mark 2012). When Canada privatized their ATC system they used ticket-tax money from the government to get them started (Mark 2012). Privatized ATC seems to be slightly more efficient in that Nav Canada has been able to update a lot of their infrastructure. However, it took some years to get to where they are at currently.
In order to make our current ATC system privatized it must pass congress and then be signed by the president. On February 3, 2016, Bill Shuster (the Transportation and Infrastructure chairman) proposed the Aviation Innovation, Reform and Reauthorization Act which included ATC privatization (Professional Aviation Specialists 2016). On July 11, 2016 the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan extension. This would allow for funding until September of 2017 (Harclerode 2016). The privatization was not addressed in this authorization. This is a very sensitive issue on both sides and the issue is sure to be in question again in 2017 when the funding is in question once more.
In my opinion, I think the current system would not be more efficient if it were privatized because I think it could present more problems. I believe that if there are fees associated with using the system, many General Aviation pilots will be hurt by this action as it is an already expensive industry. The fees may hurt corporate pilots and other small companies also. I believe that it could possibly slow down the installment of NextGen as it may take some time to get a private company moving.
References:
Air Traffic Control serves you. (2010). Retrieved September 23, 2016, from http://atccommunication.com/air-traffic-control-serves-you
Freudenrich, C. (2001, June 12). How air traffic control works. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/air-traffic-control2.htm
Harclerode, J. (2016, July 11). Transportation & infrastructure Committee. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from http://transportation.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=400554
Houston, S. (2016, August 14). NextGen in a nutshell: The next generation air traffic system. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from https://www.thebalance.com/nextgen-in-a-nutshell-282561
Mark, R. (2012, January 1). Canada's private ATC system offers alternative for cost-cutting nations. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2012-01-01/canadas-private-atc-system-offers-alternative-cost-cutting-nations
Naylor, B. (2015, April 21). Should the government get out of the air traffic control business? Retrieved September 23, 2016, from http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/04/21/401278218/should-the-government-get-out-of-the-air-traffic-control-business
NextGen – Air Traffic Control modernization. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2016, from https://www.gbta.org/usa/governmentrelations/Pages/NextGen–AirTrafficControlModernization.aspx
NH Labor News. (2016, February 10). NATCA Lays out support for air traffic control reform proposal. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from http://nhlabornews.com/2016/02/natca-lays-out-guidelines-for-support-of-air-traffic-control-reform-proposal/
PASS Statement on passage of FAA Reauthorization Bill. (2016, July 13). Retrieved September 23, 2016, from https://www.passnational.org/1278-pass-statement-on-passage-of-faa-reauthorization-bill
Pope, S. (2016, February 11). NBAA, EAA Blast ATC privatization plan. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from http://www.flyingmag.com/nbaa-eaa-blast-atc-privatization-plan
Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO - Oppose ATC Privatization. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2016, from https://www.passnational.org/oppose-atc-privatization#pass-news
John, I agree with the standpoint that if there are fees associated with flying through airspace it would not be efficient for GA pilots, however I believe that if the FAA can guarantee the savings and safety that they are advertising then the small fee would be worth the benefits.
ReplyDeleteThe current system is incredibly slow with adding improvements. I feel privatizing it would make it much faster that could make it better in the long run, but the fees are a large issue that could ruin it. A problem that could also arise is service at smaller airports. If the main contributors are the airlines, then a lot of the ATC could transfer to larger airports and leave some smaller airports in favor of getting more money that would be at a larger airport.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteI agree that privatizing ATC would most likely not be more efficient. In the case that is was more efficient, I still don’t think that the necessary steps to change the ATC community would be worth it. You bring up a great point of interest about the fees and GA opposing them. Overall, the fees associated with a privatized ATC environment are the biggest opposing factor in this discussion. I didn’t even think about the corporate or smaller aviation companies when thinking about their stance on this issue. I believe that you’re right by saying that the smaller corporate or other aviation companies will probably be against privatization too. They might not be able to handle the increase in fess with an already expensive industry. Thus getting into your next point, you are completely right by saying the associated fees might also slow down the installment of NextGen technology because of the costs