ATC Privatization

ATC has many jobs. Their main task is to handle aircrafts in flight and make sure they get to their destination safely. They deal with the flow of air traffic in certain sectors of airspace, which cover areas above and the space around airports. (What is ATC?)

ATC currently is a government ran operation, under the FAA. Money to fund the ATC comes from the fees that aircrafts pay for landing at airports. This money also pays for other operations at airports and such.

NextGen, which has been slowly taking over for many years now, would shift the current radar way of tracking and navigating, to a satellite based GPS system. This would allow for more accurate information to be sent to ATC so that they can have closer spacing and still remain as safe, if not safer then before. Many people believe that by switching the ATC to a private sector, it would speed up the process because private contractors could take over and complete the job (Pros and Cons)

General Aviation is strongly against privatization. "Air traffic control privatization is the biggest threat to the future of our industry that we've ever seen," said Ed Bolen, president of the national Business Aviation Association. (GA groups) In another article posted by AOPA, they said that they "have concluded that any structural and governance reforms that require protections for an important sector of users are fundamentally flawed." (AOPA)

For the most part, Delta is they only company against this industry issue. They did a study which showed that user fees increased anywhere from 20% to 29%. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association supports privatization, as long as it keeps the existing benefits that are currently offered (Pros and Cons)

Places such as Canada, Germany, and the UK have already implemented this plan. Canada has a non- for profit organization called Nav Canada running their ATC. the receive money from their aviation customers, and according to them, They "have kept customer rates stable while improving safety and flight efficiency" (About Us)

The house bill 2997, would transfer ATC from the FAA to a 13- member board controlled by the airlines. the bill has been thrown around and changed many times, and would still have to go to the senate, the upper chamber, before anything became official. (Snyder, T)

Cited: 
About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved April 07, 2018, from http://www.navcanada.ca/en/about-us/Pages/default.aspx

AOPA, GA groups oppose ATC privatization. (2017, June 21). Retrieved April 07, 2018, from https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2017/june/21/aopa-ga-groups-oppose-atc-privatization

GA groups launch campaign against ATC privatization. (2017, October 10). Retrieved April 07, 2018, from https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2017/october/10/ga-groups-launch-campaign-against-atc-privatization

Pros and Cons of Privatized Air Traffic Control – Florida Tech Online. (2017, June 09). Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.floridatechonline.com/blog/aviation-management/pros-and-cons-of-privatized-air-traffic-control/

Snyder, T., Gurciullo, B., Shafer, J., Rosenberg, M. L., Blair, G., & Greenfield, J. (2017, June 28). House FAA bill advances. Retrieved April 07, 2018, from https://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-transportation/2017/06/28/house-faa-bill-advances-221091

What is ATC? (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.atcpilot.com/air-traffic-control/what-is-atc/