Trump's Plan to Privatize Air Traffic Control Has Benefits and Pitfalls

[MULTIZ321]

Trump's Plan to Privatize Air Traffic Control Has Benefits and Pitfalls
By Hugo Martin/ Business/ Los Angeles Times/ latimes.com

"In Canada, about 2,000 air traffic controllers scrutinize 7 million square miles of North American skies to manage the takeoff and landing of 10,000 flights a day — all without a cent of government funding while maintaining safety standards that meet or exceed those of the United States.

The Trump administration has proposed that the U.S. follow Canada’s lead by turning over management of the nation’s air traffic control system to an independent non-government group that would be funded entirely by airport user fees.

Supporters of the idea — major airlines, among them — say the U.S. needs a system that can implement new satellite technology faster and is free from the funding cuts that result from Washington’s political squabbles.

But overhauling the nation’s air traffic control system won’t be easy.

The U.S. has the largest and busiest airspace in the world, more than four times bigger than Canada’s airspace, with five times as many annual flights and seven times as many air traffic controllers. The Federal Aviation Administration not only operates the nation’s air traffic control system but is the system’s safety regulator...."

Air traffic controllers work in the tower at JFK International Airport in New York. (Seth Wenig / AP)

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Richard

 

[Talent312]

Found this sample of amusing ATC communications:

Tower: "Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles!"
Delta 351: "Give us another hint! We have digital watches!"

From aircraft waiting in a long takeoff queue: "I'm bored!"
Ground Traffic Control: "Last aircraft transmitting, identify yourself immediately!"
Unknown aircraft: "I said I was bored, not stupid!"

Tower: "United 329 heavy, your traffic is a Fokker, one o'clock, three miles, eastbound."
United 329: "Approach, I've always wanted to say this: I've got the little Fokker in sight."

ALSO: I couldn't help but be reminded of the scene in the movie Airplane! where the air traffic controllers are playing pong on their screens.