About the author: William J. McGee is a senior fellow in aviation and travel for the U.S. Economic Freedom Program. He is a FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher and he spent seven years in airline flight operations management Consumer Reports Travel Letter. He is Pay attention to all passengers and teach at Vaughan Aviation College. And more www.economicliberties.us/william-mcgee/.
National Air Traffic Control (ATC) System In the news Often, this news is not good.
Controller shortage. Outdated equipment. because Runway invasion. That was before the heating for the past two months.
The United States has a world The largest and busiest ATC networkcovering 29 million square miles. In the context, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for 45,000 flights per day with 2.9 million passengers. During peak hours, there are 5,400 planes in the US sky, with about 10 million airline flights a year.
Theories abound on how to solve all of this.
But some treatments are worse than those of the disease.
last month I’m writing a letter here Because the government Take a chainsaw Go to government agencies.
Based on my decades of working with the best experts in the industry, allow me to share some wise solutions that are actually constructive.
us Do More controllers are needed; we don’t want Need about.
The United States faces Workers shortage For many years, in its airport control towers and regional facilities. This shortage has led to unpleasant but necessary actions by the FAA Airlines reduce their flight schedule In some areas, including New York City. No one wants to hear their holidays have been cancelled, but when you don’t have enough workers, an alternative is not an option.
How serious is this situation? A new FAA report titled “Air Traffic Controller Labor Plan: 2024-2033“Bringing shocking facts:
•FAA’s 2024 recruiting goals were 8,966 controllers, but we fell to 1,919.
•Among 290 people in the country are understaffed in 313 facilities.
•Newark’s controller is Move to Philadelphia Due to the shortage.
These numbers cannot explain normal loss by exiting, retirement or being fired, which makes the vacancy close to 3,000 more than 2,000.
The Biden administration’s response is to increase recruitment. Achieving the 2023 target employed 1,500 controllers that year.
But that’s not enough.
In contrast, Elon Musk’sMinistry of Government Efficiency” (Doge) Cost reduction strategy Cut personnelthreatens the controller and uses the “What I did this week” memo for overworked employees.
It should be clear that Musk’s team has not cut the controller yet, but Key support staff and trial staff, we can’t save have. Through a union pass representing FAA employees, it is “Disturbance and disappointment. ”
us Do Need more recruitment; we don’t want Need a racist, misogynistic scapegoat.
In fact, we do need a strong FAA diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility program so that we can help address staff shortages by recruiting people who did not consider their aviation careers before.
By attacking Deia, Trump and Musk are closing the pipeline that provides new talent in history.
As I pointed out here In January, Deia is no About hiring or promoting people without skills and certificates, as job requirements for all remain the same. This is just to expand efforts to lure new employees and undiscovered talent.
We have seen how the aviation industry is in trouble…the country’s airspace is the last place to be safe for quarterly dividends.
us Do Need modernization; we don’t want Costs need to be fought for.
Last month, two incidents revealed the ATC issue. One is one Hearing of the Housing and Aviation Subcommittee During this period, experts highlighted the technical status while operating the world’s most complex airspace.
On the same day, the Government Accountability Bureau also released theFAA urgently needs modern system operation“A new report focuses on the FAA’s reliance on numerous aging and unsustainable air traffic control systems.” GAO also criticized the NextGen Air Transport System (NextGen), which was launched in 2004 but is far from being implemented.
NextGen has become a communication for aviation, which some people now call “LastGen.”
Why does NextGen stagnate? In 2010, I served as a consumer advocate for Dot Minister Raymond Lahood The Future of the Aviation Advisory CommitteeI still remember about what else? Everyone agrees that we need to upgrade ATC technology to improve safety, efficiency and profit while also reducing carbon output. But even then, airlines are still arguing about the cost of modern aircraft based on satellite-based technology, so the full benefit of NextGen is stalled.
Enough. Many parties will benefit from upgrading our aging ATC system: passengers, companies, airlines, airports, cities, states, regions, labor. The cost of allocating them to them has passed.
us Do The airline needs to repair itself; don’t want Need to crash.
Flight delays and cancellations are a lot of responsibility. Consider how some American airlines have melted in recent years due to the rapid rise of some airlines.
Whether it’s a snowstorm JetBlue in 2007 and Southwest 2022or computer outage in 2024 Paralyzed DeltaCrisis planning is insufficient and/or other airlines recover, crisis planning is insufficient.
Just recently, co-CEO Scott Kirby outlined His plan to solve the ATC. But the past time and the kettle have examined their own role in this mud.
In short, there is little benefit to “fix” air traffic control if an airline cannot fix its own internal chaos.
In recent years, I Aviation expert They are developing practical, instant solutions to help airlines streamline and speed up their flight operations.
us Do FAA supervision needs to be checked; we don’t want Security needs to be turned into profit.
Page 922 of the project in 2025”Leader’s mission“Solve the ATC and point out the funding issues and the technical gap, while saying, “It is required that the FAA be more like a business.” ”
In addition, it requires Digital/remote towers replace personnel towers at the airport. Much of this comes from the Heritage Foundation, which has long advocated privatization of ATC. In December, Rational Foundation Calls on user-sponsored ATC.
This effort has been around for years. But by 2017, Congressional Research Services A lengthy investigation was conducted that concluded that “there appears to be no conclusive evidence that privatization is superior or inferior to government-operated ATCs (including FAAs) (including FAAs) to “productivity, cost-effectiveness, quality of service, and safety and security”.
CRS also defines two options:
Corporate A wholly-owned government company or quasi-government entity will be established to oversee the ATC. As suggested in 1993 National Commission chaired by Vice President Gore. Both the UK and Switzerland offer Corporate ATC Don’t privatize it into a for-profit model.
PrivatizationOn the other hand, private ownership will be granted and control of ATC companies.
The real problem with privatization is that its advocates downplay two key flaws:
Security: I think that if ATC is privatized, profit incentives will inevitably undermine safe operations in the name of “efficiency.” We have seen how the aviation industry makes everything from pilot training to outsourcing of aircraft maintenance to Boeing’s quality assurance. The essence of “profit” is to continuously increase revenue, and the U.S. airspace is where the last quarter dividends should be monetized for security.
Competition: Any private model will undoubtedly give the Big Four oligopoly (airlines that control 80% of the market share) the power claims against smaller airlines.
In the 21st century, there are many things to solve in the American ATC.
us Do New approaches and collaborations are needed to staff, upgrade technologies and allocate costs.
us don’t want Need to be confused, downsized and more opportunities for companies to line up their pockets, Start with Elon Musk’s Starlink.