The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee proposed on Wednesday a legislation that would shift air traffic control from the government to a private, non-profit corporation to modernize the service.
According to National Journal, Chairman Bill Sushter said that the change is necessary to cut through a vast bureaucracy that is stifling growth in the aviation industry. The bill would also insulate the air-traffic-control system from congressional funding fights, he said.
Shuster said in a statement that the U.S. air traffic control system under the Federal Association Administration (FAA) is the safest system in the world, but "incredibly inefficient". Shuster said that the problem "will only getting worse as passenger levels grow and as the FAA falls further behind in modernizing the system."
Over the past 40 years, the lawmakers and various air traffic controllers have proposed the privatization of air traffic control system at least eight times, according to USA Today. The privatized air traffic system has been adopted in Canada and dozens of other countries, but skeptics question whether private systems would work in the larger and more complex U.S. airspace.
The measure, dubbed the AIRR Act, would extend for six years of the FAA and continues its role as the regulator of aviation safety, including the safety of air traffic operations, according to Associated Press. The bill also prohibits cellphone calls by airline passengers in-flight, and requires airlines refund bag fees when checked bags arrive more than 24 hours overdue.
Under the legislation, thousands of air traffic control workers would be spun off into a separate entity that would be overseen by a quasi-governmental board. The board would include representatives from the airline industry, the government, and labor unions.
The Transformation Committee claims that the legislation would prevent "board domination by any one group."
The proposal is backed by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and is supported by Airlines for America. The supporters say that a private corporation governed by representatives of the aviation industry could move faster than FAA to upgrade equipment and adopt more efficient flight paths.
However, the bill is already facing opposition from consumer groups and bipartisan leaders of the appropriations committees in both chambers.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers and ranking member Nita Lowey wrote in a letter to House leaders that such a move give the public less leverage to influence how the system operations.
Another critic from Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran and the top Democrat, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, said privatization would mean less oversight and less accountability.
