Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi) and Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), as well as Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Chairman Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island), recently sent a letter to the leadership of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation opposing privatizing the […]
air traffic control
Privatizing ATC: What could go wrong?
The airlines are terrible at running their businesses, so let’s turn air traffic control over to them, says Andrew Schmertz, the CEO of Hopscotch Air, and a contributor to the Huffington Post. “What could go wrong?” he asks with tongue in cheek in a recent post. He notes that the airlines have decades of losses […]
FAA, air traffic controllers reach tentative agreement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FAA and its largest union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, AFL-CIO (NATCA), have reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) covering the air traffic control specialists assigned to the terminal and en route options, traffic management coordinators/specialists, air traffic controllers assigned to the flight service option, and […]
FAA hiring: Fly the diversity-friendly skies
By WILLIAM HAMILTON Satire: Just as your aircraft reaches, say, 30,000 feet on your airline flight, say, from Denver to Chicago, the Captain says, “Hello. This is your Captain speaking. Welcome aboard Olympic Mountain General Airlines. Okay, I know some of you call us: OMG! But, seriously, passengers who studied urban sociology in college may […]
Union wants more controllers at Tacoma Narrows Airport
TACOMA, Wash. – The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization wants Serco, Inc., the British company that owns the air traffic control contract at Tacoma Narrow Airport (KTIW), to add staff. In a story in The (Tacoma) News Tribune, county officials report the airport is on pace to record 65,000 operations in 2015. That would represent a 68% […]
Inhofe, Manchin urge full funding of FAA contract towers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) today sent a letter to leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) and the SAC’s Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD) urging them to fully fund the FAA’s Contract Tower Program. In the letter, the Senators wrote: “As […]
New study illustrates roadblocks to modernizing ATC
WASHINGTON D.C. — A new Hudson Institute study finds that America’s air traffic control system has fallen seriously behind modern information technology. Case studies illustrate the organizational roadblocks preventing the FAA from modernizing its flight procedures, communications and navigation technology, and governing structure. The report also outlines the steps necessary to bring the US system […]
General Aviation Airport Coalition launches petition against $100 fee
The General Aviation Airport Coalition has initiated a petition on the White House website that, if signed by 25,000 people or more by May 16, 2012, will elicit an official response by the administration about how they determined that the proposed $100 fee for general aviation aircraft is fair. “Even if we don’t get the […]
NextGen contracts over budget, behind schedule
More than one-third of the 30 contracts critical to building the Next Generation Air Transportation System, commonly known as NextGen, are over budget, while half are delayed, according to a Bloomberg BusinessWeek story on a new Government Accountability Office report. The GAO report notes that 11 of the 30 contracts exceed projected costs by a […]