WASHINGTON (AP) – A Republican House committee chairman is pushing transfer control of the air traffic control system from the government to a nonprofit corporation directed by the airlines, airports and labor unions, among others.
The idea is already generating turbulence as lawmakers and lobbyists line up for and against it.
House Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster of Pennsylvania said last summer when he announced his idea that the U.S. is lagging behind other nations in the transition from a radar-based system to one based on satellites.
Shuster says it’s questionable whether the present system is capable of sustaining current demands, let alone future growth.
The airline industry is lobbying for the plan, but it faces opposition from some lawmakers and some in the industry.