Keeping a Close Eye on ATC Privatization

June 18, 2015 - EAA is closely monitoring the development of a proposal in Congress to transfer FAA Air Traffic Control (ATC) functions to a private non-profit corporation. Under federal ownership, the air traffic system has long guaranteed equal access for all of its users with GA’s share of costs largely funded through the collection of fuel excise taxes. The proposal to privatize ATC will likely lead to user fees for general aviation, a measure that EAA continues to vigorously oppose. Privatization also raises the specter of a system that prioritizes certain air traffic over others, rather than the current policy of equal access to the National Airspace System.

While talk of ATC privatization has been ongoing in Congress for months, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman, formally announced the proposal during a speech at the Aero Club of Washington on Monday. He detailed a plan that would create a federally chartered corporation to administer air traffic services overseen by a board of directors made up of system user representatives. The corporation would be funded by user fees, which GA pilots currently contribute in the form of a fuel tax. Shuster plans to include the proposal in the forthcoming FAA reauthorization bill.

“Any privatization effort must not result in a pay-to-play scheme for general aviation,” said Sean Elliott, EAA vice president of Advocacy and Safety. “Though we certainly understand the desire to find ways to make the air traffic system more efficient and cost-effective, the current fuel tax system of revenue generation works and is efficiently and fairly collected.”

It is EAA’s contention that, among other consequences, per-use fees for air traffic services effectively penalize the prudent practice of using ATC services, such as filing for IFR in marginal conditions or simply receiving VFR advisories.

EAA will be advocating on Capitol Hill on behalf of its members on this important issue. The simple and fair system of funding through fuel taxes and the “first come, first served” airspace access general aviation has enjoyed throughout its history in the United States cannot be sacrificed in the quest for efficiency.