Page 17 - Volume 11 Number 4

The NBAA website (www.nbaa.org) has several tools on their site that are informational and helpful in relation to the safety areas, as well as other aviation-related subjects.
The Latest on Privatizing ATC
The budget proposed recently by President Trump includes the privatization of air traffic control, calling for a “multi-year reauthorization proposal to shift the air traffic control function of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to an independent, non- governmental organization, making the system more efficient and innovative while maintaining safety.”
Shortly after the budget was made public, 16 general aviation advocacy groups joined forces to express their concerns to leaders in the House and Senate in a letter which stated, “The general aviation community has very real and long-standing concerns, which include but are not limited to user fees.” Those concerns are based on experiences of other countries that have operated in privatized systems, and produced a negative impact on general aviation.
Before the budget proposal was released, the U.S. Senate appropriation leaders expressed their concerns in a letter to their Senate colleagues stating that creating an independent air traffic control organization would be “devastation [to] a core component of our economy.”
It also stated that the “public would not be well-served by exempting any part of the FAA from annual congressional oversight.” The annual appropriations process provides the oversight of agency resources necessary to ensure accountability for program performance and a sustained focus on aviation safety. In addition, the “oversight also ensures that the FAA maintains a system that works throughout the aviation industry, including for general aviation, small and rural communities, commercial airlines, and large metropolitan cities.”
National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen told attendees at a recent association regional forum that those in the aviation industry need to let their representatives in Washington, D.C., know that privatizing the ATC would be unacceptable. “We’ve won this at a grassroots level before, because people in our industry have made their voices heard, and that’s what we’re asking everybody to do again,” he said. “The public airspace belongs to the public. We need access to airports, and we need access to airspace. That’s why ATC privatization represents a significant threat to our industry. We’re going to have to find a way to respond, and it begins with everyone getting engaged.” KA
APRIL 2017
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 15