A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday to spin off air traffic control from the Federal Aviation Administration and into a private nonprofit organization. The effort was endorsed by the controllers’ union, but it differs from legislation Senate lawmakers also introduced on Thursday that would keep air traffic control at the FAA.
The House bill would appear to be the one the White House favors, as President Trump has previously endorsed that approach. Both bills would reauthorize the FAA.
“This bill is about giving all Americans the safe and efficient, 21st century aviation system they deserve while keeping America the leader in aviation. We have the busiest aviation system in the world, and though it’s safe, it’s also inefficient, costly, and unable to keep up with growing demand or developing technology,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., lead author of the bill. Co-sponsors include Reps. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., Sam Graves, R-Mo., Paul Mitchell, R-Mich., Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii, and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.
The House legislation would reauthorize the FAA for six years and create a federally chartered nonprofit called the American Air Navigation Services Corporation to handle air traffic control. It would be governed by a board including the transportation secretary, people nominated by the airline companies and representatives of the air traffic controllers’ and pilots’ unions. The board members could not be employees of any industry stakeholders.
Shuster has argued that this approach is needed to ensure air traffic control is modernized because the existing system has not kept up with current technology. “We met and worked with a large number of stakeholders and Members of Congress to produce this bill, and incorporated numerous ideas and changes to improve the final product. Momentum for these transformational reforms continues to build, and I look forward to marking up this bill in Committee next week,” he said.
The House legislation was endorsed Thursday by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. “After extremely careful review, consideration, and deliberation, we have decided to support the bill because it fully aligns with NATCA’s policies, practices, and core principles,” said NATCA President Paul Rinaldi. Those principles included “pay, benefits, retirement, and collective bargaining rights.” Under Shuster’s bill, the union’s existing collective bargaining contract would carry over to the new entity.
Airlines for America, the main industry trade group, has previously backed similar proposals.
Senate lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday that similarly promised to update air traffic control technology but would keep it within the FAA. “Our legislation focuses on enhancing safety, improving air travel for the traveling public, and reforms to help bring the future of aviation closer to reality,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., chairman of the Senate Commerce Science and Transportation Committee. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., the committee’s ranking minority member, is a co-author. The Senate legislation would reauthorize the FAA for four years and require the agency to further update its “NextGen” technology to replace radar-based air control with a GPS-based system.
Thune said this week that there isn’t enough support in his panel to back the House proposal in its current form.
“No, we don’t have the votes to pass that in our committee at the moment. We’ll see what the House is able to do, and we’ll proceed accordingly. But if that issue were to get addressed, it would probably have to be on the floor in conference,” Thune said Monday.
