CNBC released the results of a quarterly “All America Economic Survey” June 20, 2017, conducted by Hart Research Associates on a wide range of topics, including public-private partnerships, infrastructure, and a proposal to spin off the air traffic control system from the FAA into a private non-profit corporation.
As part of the survey, respondents were asked their opinion on a “proposal to shift control of the U.S. air traffic control system from the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, to a private, non-profit entity that would be governed by representatives of the major U.S. airlines and others. The FAA would have some oversight of this new entity, but would no longer manage the air traffic control system.”
Respondents were given arguments in favor and against this proposal.
According to the results, 53% of respondents said this proposal would be a “bad idea,” as opposed to 33% who responded that it was a “good idea.
[contextly_auto_sidebar]“The American people have once again spoken, and they are clear that they believe that putting private, big-airline interests in charge of the air traffic control system is a bad idea,” said Selena Shilad, Executive Director of the Alliance for Aviation Across America.
The CNBC survey had a sample size of 800 individuals, with a margin of error of +/-3.5%.
According to Hart Research, 37% of survey respondents identified themselves as moderate, 34% as conservative, and 21% as liberal.
The full survey results are available here.
Of course a poll from CNBC is going against the agenda of our current President! Generally speaking, people tend to resist change! “Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change”
I understand the senate has a draft turned june 22 that includes funding for the FAA thru September 2021. It is suppose to maintain funding for ATC and revisit the PBR2.
An NBC poll?
Count me in the group that favors this change. There’s too much of a knee jerk reaction opposing the change based on the presumption that has no basis other than a perception that “big airlines” will run the show and the little guys in GA, that’s us, will have no voice and have to pay fees which will have the effect of squeezing us out of the National Air Space system. While I can imagine such an outcome, I don’t see that happening. Privatization will happen. If not this time, then next. The FAA is too slow and inefficient to continue managing ATC under next-gen.
My knee jerked because I have flown in Europe (a C182) and I have talked with Canadian pilots about what happened with them and costs of flight in Canada.
My knee jerked because I took the time to find out how much the excise taxes are airlines pay for fuel vs. GA — we are talking Fed excise — and this was a study I did back about 2008.
As I recall, Airlines/Air Taxi pay $0.003/gal for Jet(Fed Excise taxes) vs. GA’s $0.21/gal for Avgas (which it had been lower but “GA” volunteered to pay more and so it was raised). GA also pays state excise taxes.
Meanwhile “The Trust Fund” was named as being used to cover the cost of ATC.
Now, I have done the math on a B737 (middle of the now flying set of 737s) doing a 3 hour LEG vs. a non-Turbo Piper Lance doing the same trip (avg was 17 GPH!! — I know because I flew it). Guess who pays more into the trust fund for that flight.
Your knee might jerk after doing that calculation and then finding out that there will be user fees. Maybe not today, but when the come, and they will, if any of the other countries that privatized ATC are any indication of what will happen in the USofA if ATC is privatized.
Interesting! People who don’t trust the government (for good reason) with air traffic control responsibilities but, they trust the government (half of it) with control of their health care…….
This is s stupid poll. 5 minutes earlier at least 50% of the respondents did not even know what “FAA” stands for – and they could not explain what the FAA does if their lives depended on it. And now they supposedly have an opinion about ATC? (They most certainly did not know that that is, either.)