In 2017, during his first term in office, President Trump Announced your intentions To privatize the US air traffic control system, it is called “in the past, in the past, in the past”. The proposal never left.

The current Trump administration is again focusing on improvement in air traffic control, recently with technical outage and staff shortage -even after January Midar collision Washington, DC, an American Airlines regional jet and the US Army Black Hawk Helicopter, killing 67 people.

But this time the target is a multibibilian-dollar investment in the federal aviation administration-and the matter of privatization seems to be catching.

Transport Secretary Sean Dafi said, “It is only going to divide people to fight about privatization.” A press conference Last month. “And what will really happen to make sure that we do not actually build a new air traffic control system.”

Aviation industry groups once supported privatization, are now united behind Dafi plan to modernize the system By upgrading archaic devices and recruiting new controllers “supercharging”. Proposal Is backing In the modern Sky’s alliance, a collection of groups consist of trade association for Major Airlines, National Air Traffic Controllers Association and others.

But recently, travel disruption has resumed the argument of some FAA critics that the best way to fix the country’s air traffic control system is to completely remove it from the control of the direct government.

How to organize air traffic control

Supporters of air traffic control privatization are often pointed to Canada as an example. America’s northern neighbor Privatized your system In 1996, when the government sold it to non-profit new Canada for $ 1.5 billion.

Professor Vincent Correya of McGill University Aviation Law said that Canada’s air travel system was delayed, and privatization made it easy to buy new technology, which improved air travel without undergoing a slow -running public procurement process. He said, “The purpose of privatization is to find a way to remove those disabilities, the most particularly flexible approach when it comes to investing,” he said.

The funding stream of the system also changed. Canada went away from paying for large -scale air traffic control through tax revenue Pay out customers Depending on the weight and distance of a flight.

According to Correia, privatization of air traffic control was the next step for an aviation sector with already a privately held airplane manufacturer and commercial airlines. “So the steps that were originally taken by Canada were to say, well, air traffic control is providing a service to an industry that is already personalized or has been privatized in many areas of the world,” he said.

Other air traffic control systems that exist outside or partially exist in the United Kingdom include NATS, airservices Australia, Airways New Zealand, DFS in Germany and Skygide in Switzerland.

A 2017 report The Congress’s research service states that models from other countries “do not show decisive evidence that any of these models is either better or inferior than others or in relation to the current government-run air traffic services, including FAA, in relation to productivity, cost-efficiency, service quality and safety and safety.”

Transport Secretary Sean Dafi speaks at an event on 8 May, unveiling the Trump administration’s plan for a new US air traffic control system.

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Nevertheless, private air traffic controllers are working in the US today. Through Contract tower programFAA allows airports with limited air traffic to its towers with controllers employed by private companies. All federal air traffic control towers have more than half of contract towers, mostly because they are at small general aviation airports.

US privatization debate has found

Opponents of privatization say that it does not always work so well for those countries that have done it. They indicate, for example, to 2023 report From International Civil Aviation Organization that reduced Canada’s flight safety grade and recently reduced Lack of air traffic controllers,

Ed Boln, CEO of the National Business Aviation Association, says that a private system will be even more difficult to work in the US, one of the largest and most complex airplanes in the world.

“When we look at the performance in Australia, in New Zealand, in Europe, in the United Kingdom and Canada, we see much smaller, not complex operations especially compared to America and we see old delays,” he said.

Another concern is that privatization can damage small airports and pilots, which does not produce the same economic impact as large airlines, says senior vice president of Jim Con Aircraft owner and pilot association,

He said, “It will be very harmful to many small communities across the country that rely on these small airports for businesses, for disaster relief, for disaster relief, as they do not bring airports in revenue in the amount of revenue that large airports that use airlines,” said.

NAV is the board of directors of Canada Is necessary for members Airlines, general aviation, government and workers unions were selected.

Kovid-19 outbreak Offered another issue with privatization. Because the systems of some countries were funded by user fees, air traffic control operators ran into trouble when the air travel was dramatically reduced due to epidemics.

But Robert Pule, director of the Transport Policy at the Libeterian Think Tank Region Foundation, says the US air traffic control system can be replaced by changing what he says to a public utility. , Clinton administration suggested Convert US air traffic control into a semi-government corporation in 1994.)

The air traffic control equipment has been displayed at an event last month, which has announced a plan to overhaul the system of Trump administration.

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Currently, Pole says, passengers and airlines pay taxes that go into the American Treasury, and that money is then to be approved by the Congress for FAA. In a public utility model, “Revenue will directly go to the Air Traffic Corporation, whether it is a non -profit or government corporation,” he said.

Public utility may issue bonds to fund large projects – which FAA cannot – and streamlined its purchase process, Pole said.

He also said that the FAA would be more powerful to implement security violations, in his role as a security regulator if the air traffic controllers were not FAA employees. “So you have a better security for aviation security in this important part of the system – air traffic control – which is unfortunately embedded in the United States today in the security regulator and not at the length of the hand from the security regulator,” he said.

American privatization is not on horizon

Pre -Republican Rape. Bill Suster, who proposed a law in the Congress that privatized air traffic control in 2017, was recently advocating the consideration as November, Anne InformedIn December, Libeterian Cato Institute Published an article Privatizing the system urging Trump.

But within the aviation industry, the call to privatize air traffic control has faded to a large extent.

Even major airlines, once the vocal supporters of privatization have cooled it. Trade Group Airlines for America, which Lining Trump’s 2017 privatization effort, A letter of co-composed Opposing privatization with other aviation groups in February, saying that it would be a “distraction” from planned upgradation to air traffic control system.

With the Coon, aircraft owners and the pilot association, the aviation industry is behind the Trump administration’s plan to modernize the National Air Traffic Control System, which greatly removes privatization.

“It has been discussed for decades. There is no consensus,” he said. “But it is now a consensus to modernize our system, and this is what we want to do.”