The government shutdown created a mess for air travel, which raises the fundamental question: Why is the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system still part of the government?
Thousands of flights were cancelled, and millions of travelers had their plans upended because the government shutdown meant air traffic controllers didn’t get paid. A number of controllers decided that no pay meant no work and stayed off the job. These no-shows hit a system that was already in serious crisis. Even before the shutdown, nearly 90% of control towers across the country were understaffed. The deadly air collision at Reagan National Airport in January and numerous near misses testify to a troubled system. Much of the equipment is obsolete and the technology, woefully outdated.
Last May, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy proposed an ambitious $31.5 billion modernization program to overhaul our shockingly decrepit system over the next three to four years. He requested that the money be provided upfront so that long-term contracting commitments could be made. Congress approved $12.5 billion and was very specific on how the funds were to be spent. The rest of the money would be appropriated, sometime in the future.
Here’s the fundamental problem: Sensible, long-term management and planning are impossible as long as the government runs ATC. Micromanagement by parochial politicians and the uncertainty of year-to-year funding guarantee failure, just as they have in the past. There have been glittering promises of modernization before, but they all flopped with unpredictable, inadequate funding and routinely-missed deadlines.
That the mightiest country in the world and the pioneer in aviation should be hobbled with a system fit for the Smithsonian Museum is a shameful disgrace. The ATC increasingly endangers passenger safety. Because of obsolete routing, the outdated way it spaces distances between aircraft and its stunning lack of modern technology to deal with adverse weather conditions, the ATC system chronically causes longer than necessary flights.
The solution to all this is to do what scores of other countries have done for years: Remove the ATC system from politics, transforming it into an independent, nonprofit organization. Safety regulations would remain with the Federal Aviation Administration. The new entity would be financed by user fees. It could float bonds for large-scale, long-term projects. All this would free it from the destructive, short-sighted vagaries of the Washington politicians.
This is not theory. Many other countries, such as Germany, Canada and Japan, have gone in this direction since New Zealand successfully adopted such an approach back in 1987. The U.S. is truly the outlier here. President Trump proposed this kind of necessary reform during his first term, but it was grounded by Congress. He should relaunch it now. The U.S. should be the cutting-edge innovator in ATC, instead of an embarrassing and increasingly high-risk laggard.
By the way, the president is right to recommend a $10,000 bonus for controllers who remained on the job during the shutdown.
