WASHINGTON (AP) – The chairman of the House transportation committee said Monday he’ll introduce a bill that takes control of air traffic operations away from the government and places it under the control of a non-profit corporation run by airlines and other segments of the aviation industry.
Rep. Bill Shuster, a Pennsylvania Republican, said keeping air traffic operations under government control would be “the surest road to failure.”
The Federal Aviation Administration has been hampered in recent years by government-wide budget cuts. Two years ago, air traffic was snarled at airports across the country for days after budget cuts resulted in the furlough of some controllers.
The FAA has also been working for 10 years on transitioning from a radar-based air traffic control system to one based on satellite technology, but there’s no completion in sight, Shuster said.
Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air traffic Controllers Association, said controllers are keeping an open mind on the proposal but want to see the details.