FAA ATC ops privatised...?
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FAA ATC ops privatised...?
Can any of our FAA colleagues offer any insight as to whether the privatisation of ATC in the states is likely? What is the general feeling amongst the ATC community stateside regarding the potential for this to happen.
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TD80
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TD80
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Smaller towers......yes! We've already seen quite a few of the slower, smaller towers become privatized, and there are still plenty of the small to medium sized facilities that could very easily follow suit, but I sincerely doubt that the bigger, busier towers, tracons, and centers will become privatized; at least not in my lifetime anyway. There's been talk here and there, specially when the Republicans are in control, but in the end, our country is so obsessed with accountability, and security that there's no way congress will turn over control of our airspace to private interests.
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FAA split-up and ATS separation likley
If you've been following the global aviation press recently you'll note the recent serious moves by the US Congress, and key aviation user groups, to address fixing an extremely poorly functioning FAA, a sustained funding mess for FAA year to year budget authorizations and a related substantially failing NextGen plan, heading toward a $40B failure.
That's all on top of a massively fouled up set of FAA policies for medical certificates (e.g., 3rd class), completely fouled up ADS-B, UAT, and ADS-R requirements, with an absurd 2020 equipage deadline that not even many airlines are equipping for, or are going to meet, fouled up UAV separation concepts (and a seriously flawed UAV NPRM), faulty ATPC requirements (massively overspecified and counterproductive), counterproductive new avionics and airspace rule proposals (e.g., glider XPdr NPRM), high certification impedance (dating back to FAA ignoring RTCA TF4 recommendations), and generally obsolete rules in many other areas, as a result of NO recent Ops Reviews as were done in the late '70s, with some rules so out of date they are even ridiculed by much of the non-FAA world (just go read FAR121.355 and Part 121 Appendix G for but one minor example, where OpSpec provisions are otherwise needed to compensate).
So yes, there is now a substantial possibility, if not even probability that proposals will be advanced by Congress (e.g., Rep. Schuster) to bust up FAA this fall, in the budget hearings process, and in doing so, separate out ATS as a separate ANSP. A much needed and very long overdue action.
That's all on top of a massively fouled up set of FAA policies for medical certificates (e.g., 3rd class), completely fouled up ADS-B, UAT, and ADS-R requirements, with an absurd 2020 equipage deadline that not even many airlines are equipping for, or are going to meet, fouled up UAV separation concepts (and a seriously flawed UAV NPRM), faulty ATPC requirements (massively overspecified and counterproductive), counterproductive new avionics and airspace rule proposals (e.g., glider XPdr NPRM), high certification impedance (dating back to FAA ignoring RTCA TF4 recommendations), and generally obsolete rules in many other areas, as a result of NO recent Ops Reviews as were done in the late '70s, with some rules so out of date they are even ridiculed by much of the non-FAA world (just go read FAR121.355 and Part 121 Appendix G for but one minor example, where OpSpec provisions are otherwise needed to compensate).
So yes, there is now a substantial possibility, if not even probability that proposals will be advanced by Congress (e.g., Rep. Schuster) to bust up FAA this fall, in the budget hearings process, and in doing so, separate out ATS as a separate ANSP. A much needed and very long overdue action.
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It is important to note that while its true that the FAA in general is a mess, the ATC portion of it is probably its best part. All those things you mentioned are handled by sections of the FAA that are not part of ATC.
While that would seem to support taking the ATC portion out of it as a private entity, in reality it would be extremely hard to implement. I'm not saying it wont happen eventually, but I just don't see it happening anytime soon.
While that would seem to support taking the ATC portion out of it as a private entity, in reality it would be extremely hard to implement. I'm not saying it wont happen eventually, but I just don't see it happening anytime soon.
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The "idea" has been floated for decades off and on. I didn't think it would happen during my ATC career 20 years ago, and it didn't. (retired 3+ yrs ago) Where it gets messy is who benefits? If the airlines have too much influence, GA and corporate aviation will suffer and oppose it. If the airlines don't have enough influence, they won't support it. Then there's the military and how they integrate in the system. T-38s are RNP-? now? If they maintain their ADS-B like they did transponders on the T-2 Buckeye....
