As I wrote previously, the great
debate on whether or not ATC should be privatized has fairly equal voices on
both sides. The General aviation side of the house fears that it
will become a “pay to play” industry, sacked with fees and sent to the bottom
of the totem pole in terms of priority to the big boys. The
financial impact to the GA community’s ability to fly the friendly sky’s could
be an industry killer.
The previous Bill from Congressmen Shuster (CNN, 2015), I
believe it’s written to fund the new nongovernment agency that would take over
ATC functions by fees in an attempt to completely isolate it from future
government budget crisis and/or shutdowns. I can see the rationale, but
that’s a no-go in my book- bad proposal. I’m certain there are better and
less expensive funding options that those smarter than I could up with,
especially since private ATC operations would require less to operate than at
the bloated government cost.
Taking a step back and looking at all the other current
government contracts run by private corporations, I can’t see how ATC could
become the next big cash cow. As a service oriented entity, with no real
tangible product, I don’t see how it could be obtusely profitable. Now if
you’re say Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, or Northrop
Grumman, building multi-million (some billion) dollar products for the US
government, there’s room for cost-plus budget overages while maintaining a fat
profit margin. (Allgov, 2011) If a nongovernmental agency were to take over ATC
operations, it would have to be implemented as a performance based contract
with FAA oversight in order to make the transition worth the “anticipated”
rewards.
A few, but not all, of the major airlines have spoke in
favor of privatization mainly because they realize that the implementation of
the NextGen system has have numerous cost overruns, and delays measured in
multiple years behind schedule. They quicker the NextGen system is
implemented, the quicker the airlines can begin saving billions of dollars in
saved fuel and time.
Other countries do have privatized ATC, though the sum of
which barely equate to the vast mass of traffic and area the USA contends
with. New Zealand was the to part ways with the government ATC role
back in the late 1980’s. Germany, Austrailia, and the UK followed
suit, with France migrating ATC to a government agency funded by user fees
around a decade ago, while retaining safety oversight. (Bloomberg, 2015)
Germany established a government-run corporation while The U.K. uses a unique
public-private partnership for NATS, which oversees air traffic control. As I
stated previously, any one of these countries are essentially the
size of one of our States, but they have proven that they can run their
respective airspaces safely, efficiently, and with positive balance sheets.
After Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015
just this October, which establishes funding limits for both Fiscal Year 2016
and 2017, and avoids more sequestration cuts, I haven’t been able to determine the
status of House Transportation committee chairman Bill Shuster’s proposal to
create a new nongovernmental agency to take over ATC. Without further evidence
I’d have to assume it is dead in the water. (ainonline, 2015)
Having worked both in the military, and for private
military contractors for several years; I do have a unique perspective when it
comes to spending, efficiency, and mission accomplishment. It is my
experience that private industry can accomplish the same task as the
government, but with less. But unless that particular private entity has
access to the same resources as the government one(s), there are definitely
(and appropriately so) certain tasks that should be exclusively handled by the
feds. So- which way am I leaning towards with ATC? The jury is still out.
I definitely believe that had the NextGen innovation and roll out been
run by a private corporation- it would be fully implemented by now. The
feds are not good with IT projects, Obama Care website anyone?? The most
common argument against privatization is that greedy corporations answer only
to their shareholders and chairmen; I'm not sure how that argument is still a
player but that’s the critics. When it comes to spending 'our' tax
dollars, I'd have to say that government answers essentially to no one.
That is unfortunately why the most fraud, waste, and abuse is in
government spending.
Some believe that safety will somehow automatically be
compromised if ATC is transferred to a private entity. Unless said new entity hires
plumbers instead of Air Traffic Controllers, I’m fairly certain operations
would continue just as safe. Are we safe now??? Well…Two years ago the FAA
changed its Air Traffic Controllers hiring practices from giving preference to
Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) programs and Military Controllers, to rely
solely on a biographical questionnaire to qualify. That’s right, Joe Schmo off
the streets direct to ATC. (Washington Examiner, 2015) All because of an agency
diversity study…I read an article that listed a few of the questionnaire
questions, here’s a few: “What sports did you play in high school?” And “What
kind of grades did you get?” Yup, I want that person in the tower when being
vectored for an approach. Um, no. Adding insult to injury, when the FAA made
this “diversity change” in hiring practices, some 3000 qualified ATC applicants
on the waitlist were purged from the system, and you guessed it, they now have
an ATC shortage. There is a Bill in Congress to restore the hiring practices to
the previous and practical state.
Ideally, I'd like to like to see zero based budgeting be
fully implemented in the FAA, ATC, and all other government agencies involved
in aviation, so the dollars that are allocated to aviation, are efficiently and
effectively spent- in aviation. Too many times there are compromised bills passed due to Congressional leaders attaching their pet projects to large bills in order to get them funded, and all too often the outcome is unnecessary dollars spent towards unnecessary garbage.
Reference:
Should the U.S. Privatize Air Traffic Control?
(2015, September 11). Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-11/should-the-u-s-privatize-air-traffic-control-
NATA Pushes
Capitol Hill for Action on FAA Funding Bill. (2015, November 2). Retrieved
from http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2015-11-02/nata-pushes-capitol-hill-action-faa-funding-bill
Should the government hire 'off-the-street'
air traffic controllers? (2015, December 16). Retrieved from http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/should-the-government-hire-off-the-street-air-traffic-controllers/article/2558975
Big 5 Defense Contractors Not Hurt by Their
Multiple Cases of Misconduct. (2011, June 18). Retrieved from http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is-the-money-going/big-5-defense-contractors-not-hurt-by-their-multiple-cases-of-misconduct?news=842783
Rep. Bill Shuster mulls privatizing air
traffic control - CNNPolitics.com. (2015, June 15). Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/15/politics/congressman-proposes-privatizing-air-traffic-control/
