The coalition urges “robust emergency funding for air traffic control technology and infrastructure and controller staffing and training.”
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coalition of more than 30 national and international aviation organizations are urging the U.S. government to improve air traffic control staffing and expedite in-progress modernization plans for the nation’s air traffic control (ATC) system.
In a letter to the Senate Commerce and Appropriations Committees, and the House Transportation and Appropriations Committees, the coalition urges “robust emergency funding for air traffic control technology and infrastructure and controller staffing and training.” The coalition also confirms its interest in not pursuing privatization of the nation’s ATC system.
Airlines for America, an industry trade group representing the airline industry, unions representing pilots, ATC, and other aviation workers, and trade groups representing aircraft manufacturers, business travelers, and general aviation came together to co-author and sign the letter.
President Trump urged Congress to privatize the ATC system during his first term, ultimately to insufficient support in both the House and Senate. Some conservative groups still favor privatizing ATC, similar to how the systems are operated in the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. Airlines for America, one of the industry groups in the coalition, backed the privatization plans then, while industry groups representing corporate and general aviation generally opposed it, concerned that the airlines would have a disproportionate influence in gaining access.
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ATC staffing has come under scrutiny in the weeks following a deadly crash at Washington Reagan National Airport on January 29. The crash, which involved a collision between an American Eagle regional jet on final approach and an army helicopter with the loss of all lives on both aircraft, has raised questions about ATC procedures around the airport, particularly after early reports that the ATC staffers on duty at the time of the accident numbered fewer than is typical.
The coalition’s letter to Congress comes less than a week after news that some 400 FAA staffers had their jobs eliminated. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says that the staffers, who were on probation and thus easier to terminate, were not air traffic controllers or critical safety personnel. The majority of the employees were maintenance mechanics and other support workers, according to their union.
The letter further reminds Congress that aviation and aerospace account for roughly 5% of the U.S. gross domestic product and is responsible for some 10 million jobs. The letter also encourages Congress to exempt the FAA from any funding-related government shutdown to ensure that hiring and training of safety personnel won’t be interrupted.
The group stressed that in spite of the need for improvements to the nation’s ATC system, air travel is the safest form of transportation, and their hope that improvements to ATC staffing and modernization of the system would ultimately make the system even safer for air passengers.
“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for the management of over 50,000 flights daily transporting more than 2.9 million passengers across our 29 million square miles of airspace,” the letter said. “To maintain a best-in-class ATC system that is globally competitive, it is our unified objective to work with the U.S. Congress and the Administration to find common ground to ensure the operational safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System (NAS).”
Since the January 29 collision in Washington, D.C., a number of aviation accidents have gained national attention, including the crash of a medical evacuation jet near Philadelphia on January 31, killing six, and the crash of an air taxi flight near Nome, Alaska, on February 6 killing all ten passengers onboard. Early investigations in those accidents do not suggest that ATC staffing or actions were contributing factors, although air crash investigations ultimately take months or years to draw final conclusions.
