GOP files bill to privatize air traffic control

[bluevoter4life]

Source: The Hill

A Republican House member has filed a bill that would privatize some facets of the nation’s air traffic control as the Federal Aviation Administration struggles to meet deadlines to upgrade the system.

The measure would create a new private corporation that would oversee air traffic control functions that are currently handled by the FAA.

The legislation’s sponsor, Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), said the measure would drastically improve the efficiency of air traffic control in the U.S.

“We’ve tried reform and reorganization, and we’ve created positions like the Chief Operating Officer within the Air Traffic Organization, but unfortunately our ATC technology and working conditions for air traffic controllers continue to fall further behind the rest of the world,” said Mica, who is a former chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/239132-gop-files-bill-to-privatize-air-traffic-control

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As an air traffic controller employed by the FAA, this is the WORST possible idea. Your safety may be for sale to the lowest bidder. Our jobs may be at risk. Rethugs cut and cut and cut our budget, then complain the FAA can't meet it's deadlines. We currently have the busiest airspace in world, but also the safest and most efficient, and we would prefer to keep it that way. This needs to be stopped NOW. Our only hope is Obama vetoing any bill that come to his desk.

[Taylorz]

1. Gee.. is it POSSIBILE that Mica has been underfunding

The FAA on purpose? I know where the money is. MIC Monster rears its ugly head.

[ManiacJoe]

56. He was hoping you would not say that out loud.

[awoke_in_2003]

66. Welcome to DU...

yes, the republicans underfund everything they can so they can say "See- government can't do it". The assholes are going to destroy this country.

[still_one]

2. Shades of Reagan's war against the air traffic controllers

[mike dub]

35. Agreed, still_one

That was my immediate thought, too.
Eom

[still_one]

39. Great minds think alike. I really hope the Democrats and Obama don't allow this

[JDPriestly]

3. Translate: The GOP wants a private company to take over air traffic control so that the owners

of the company can take a big profit out of the taxpayer funds that will pay for the service and so that the pay of the people who actually work as traffic controllers at the wheels hit the cement leve can be cut.

No. Simply no. This is a horrible idea.

The money that pays the air traffic controllers is whether officially or not from one pot that should be carefully managed by the people's government, by our democratically elected representatives and the people they hire.

Privatization is a scam when the money comes essentially from a public (whether government or not) source and there can be only one management and one group involved in providing the service.

Privatization is appropriate when competition is a factor or when the government does not have the expertise or capacity to do the job. That is not the case with air traffic control.

Privatization would be meaningless in this area. We would just end up with a monopoly in private management. No. l

[bluevoter4life]

5. What happens when....

Delta or American or United decide they want to be the first to depart a hub airport and find a way to "donate" a couple million dollars to the private company to buy this right? What happens when this right blocks out other operations until the donor says it's ok to continue? WE cannot let this happen. Our union is has been working tirelessly to keep things the way they are.

[JDPriestly]

6. Thanks. Keep posting on this because the rest of us don't know much about these aspects

of air safety. And we need to learn.

[bluevoter4life]

12. I will try to update as information becomes available. eom

[ananda]

9. Well if the current state of baggage handling is anything to go by,

we are totally screwed if air traffic control is privatized.

This is a monstrously bad idea on so many levels.

[Enthusiast]

72. Dangerous even.

[justhanginon]

4. I think a better idea is to privatize congress.

Since they are already on the payroll of most corporations the bookkeeping would certainly simplify matters and they could then dispense with the false notion that they work for and represent the multitude of taxpayers in this country. At least that last part would be honest and they could then collect their bonuses for jobs as perceived by the corporations as well done and do it above the table instead of under the table as it is now. Seems like win-win deal to me.

[KansDem]

32. You know, I was just thinking about this today...

Take the average House and Senate salary times the number of representatives and senators. What would be the total? Use that to shore up Social Security and other social safety nets. I mean, they get their money from the plutocrats to act in the interests of the plutocrats, so make the rich and corporations pay exclusively for the US government since they own it anyway!

Except, the plutocrats will find a way to keep the money anyway...

[Kip Humphrey]

50. How about requiring congrees sheeple to wear the corporate logos of their top 10 contributers when

conducting the peoples' business. Call it the "Congress Revealed thru Advertising Protection" act - the CRAP act.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

52. Aren't they already?

They should be wearing corporate emblems on their clothes indicating their sponsors, like race car drivers.

[HockeyMom]

7. Pay them $15/hour without benefits?

People's LIVES are in their hands!

[AngryDem001]

22. But, but, but

Think of the CEOs! Don't you care about THEM?

[cloudbase]

8. Flight Service Stations are already privatized.

When I call for a weather briefing, I'm speaking with a contractor, not an employee of the FAA.

[bluevoter4life]

11. Yep

Even when we call them directly, we are rarely able to reach them on the first try. Their job is quickly becoming obsolete. I fear the same will eventually happen to us if this passes.

[Aviation Pro]

19. And have been for years....

...frankly with so many products available on aviationweather.gov, I haven't used an FSS in a long time.

[cloudbase]

20. The weather available online is good stuff. Getting the briefing from FSS

is pretty much a CYA thing. Just in case.

[catnhatnh]

10. I'm surprised it took this long...

...after trucking was deregulated it was only months before trucking schools were on half the matchbook covers in the country. What's the over/under on "air traffic controller" schools sweeping thew nation?

[KansDem]

36. I think you're on to something!

Get your air-traffic controller certification online from the comfort of you home! The "course" could be playing a series of "land the plane" video games. You land enough "safely" and you get your certificate!

[n2doc]

14. Let me guess- they can outsource this to India/Pakistan, like call centers....

And maybe have 1 min wage person per tower in case the internet goes down. All while some CEO gets millions for doing this.

[d_legendary1]

15. The party of crappy ideas strikes again

Just like the TSA was also a bad idea.

[littlemissmartypants]

16. How timely.

Right after a little whirlybird lands on the WH lawn.

[Aviation Pro]

17. Looks like...

...Rep. Mica's cronies want some of that fast NextGen money. That's too bad since I've spoken to him in the past and he was always reasonable and a big time supporter of the aviation and aerospace industry.

[mountain grammy]

18. In a sea of bad Republican ideas..

this could possibly be the worst. Who the fuck votes for these idiots.

The media better pick up on this one.. yeah, right, like that will ever happen.

[FailureToCommunicate]

21. **Could** be a good idea, but then...

Thanks, bluevoter4life, for keeping us all safe up there!

--F2C

[bluevoter4life]

23. Thank you FTC

I didn't get into this for thank you's and praises, though they are greatly appreciated. I sincerely thank you for that. I got into this because I love aviation. I make great money, something many people in public service cannot say. I didn't get into this because of the salary. I got into this because I am a part of something much bigger than myself. I am part of a job that not everyone is cut out for. This is the job where you learn to trust your coworkers and your union brothers and sister literally with your career and your life. I do not want the immense pride I feel to be destroyed by the lowest bidder.

[awoke_in_2003]

67. "I love aviation"

that is why I maintain flight simulators (business jets, primarily). We have a common goal- keeping people safe. Privatization of ATC is a horrible idea.

[bluevoter4life]

68. Global Express

My favorite corporate jet. At least until I work the G6 more frequently. Thank you for ensuring pilots are up to standard and keep current with regulations and procedures. Our behind-the-scenes jobs often go unnoticed by the public. Thanks to the DU family for your support behind this horrible bill.

[awoke_in_2003]

69. The instructor pilots make sure

that pilots know what to do in an emergency. I make sure the simulator acts the way the instructor (and manufacturer ) thinks it should

[tabasco]

83. I remember that crazy fool in Sea Hunt

He was great.

[CrispyQ]

24. "We don't have a democracy. We have an auction."

Bumper sticker I saw a long time ago. Even more relevant today.

[Bartlet]

25. What could possibly go wrong with that?

Privatizing air traffic controllers so the companies can figure out was to minimize expenses while maximizing profit by doing things like extending hours, reducing number of controllers, reducing training...what could possibly go wrong!!! Every time a Republican has an idea a brain cell dies.

[gregcrawford]

26. SWEET JUMP-ROPING JESUS!

These people are INSANE! Or maybe they're just evil down to their DNA. Or both. Privatization has been an abject failure on every conceivable level, and these motherfuckers want to endanger millions of lives by handing over a critical service to sociopaths who will do whatever it takes to maximize profit with ZERO concern for the lives of air travelers.

We need a guillotine...

[Quasimodem]

27. What could possibly go wrong?

There's nothing like leaving the safety of billions of dollars worth of technology and thousands of human lives to the vagaries of private companies hiring the lowest paid employees and working them beyond the the limits of safety in an effort to wrench extra profits from a hazardous activity.

[Aristus]

28. "Delta Seven-Five-Niner, this is Frito-Lay air traffic control. Descend to angels ten and level off.

And Delta? You weren't in my corner during my contract re-negotiation, so don't be surprised if you're not all alone in your box up there. Mid-air collisions are a bitch. Out."

[lakercub]

29. I've done no research to back any of this up

but I have a buddy who is a pilot and he has informed me that Europe actually has a much more decentralized and privatized air traffic control system (it may not be that it is privatized so much as there are multiple countries doing multiple different things). His claim is that it is far less efficient than ours and that the government controlled air traffic system we have is a decent example of a government controlled entity doing its work reasonably well.

Again, I can't substantiate this, but I will never trust a republican who wants to privatize anything given that their motives never have anything whatsoever to do with efficiency (with the exception of the efficient transfer of large quantities of money into donor pockets).

[Ilsa]

38. Privatization usually is less efficient,

and more expensive. My guess is that it'll be more haphazard, too.

I'll avoid flying, thank you.

[blackspade]

30. Another grifter files a bill to steal from the public

[nilram]

31. ATC conditions "continue to fall further behind the rest of the world"

Does the rest of the world privatize their Air Traffic Control? I doubt it. They probably have more effective legislatures.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

34. The rest of the world has state run airlines.

[nilram]

41. OP is with regard to air traffic control

[Spitfire of ATJ]

43. Yeah, their entire operation it state run....

Even the ground crew is on the government's payroll.

Not sure about the catering trucks, but I can believe that too since it's better than here. (British Air being the exception)

[nilram]

46. Which country are you talking about?

Britain? Their ATC is privatized, and British Air is a private company -- you can buy their stock. Canada? Australia? The air traffic control for those countries are privatized. They don't have state-run airlines--you can also buy shares in Air Canada. Air Australia is defunct, a private company that went bankrupt.

Really, you lost me at "the rest of the world has state-run airlines". Some countries do, most don't. But the thread isn't about airlines, or airline catering. I won't be discussing this further with you.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

48. "I won't be discussing this further with you."

Ya never know what will set some people off.

BTW: You can thank Thatcher for privatizing British Air. They are STILL considered to be the nation's flag carrier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_carrier

[ChisolmTrailDem]

75. "I won't be discussing this further with you." -- WTF? nt

[nilram]

81. I didn’t think it would be productive to continue —

I could have explained that.

The OP is about air traffic control, and I contributed my two cents (if it’s even worth that) about the GOP statements about air traffic control. The response from Spitfire of ATJ was about state run airlines, which I thought was tangential at best, and Spitfire’s further responses were, in my opinion, more vague and even more tangential. In contrast, replies #57 and #62 are excellent, in my opinion, in that they are on-point and have concrete background about the situation in the OP.

Looking at my statement in context, I could have just said that I prefer to stick to the topic in the OP and left it at that.

[nilram]

44. Hm, best I was able to find is that around 40 countries have privatized ATC

That was from this paper out of the University of Ottawa.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1317450

Canada is one of the countries that has privatized ATC, so the paper regards it favorably, but it's the best I could find that isn't from an openly right-wing source.

Wikipedia says that "Air navigation service providers are either government departments, state-owned companies, or privatised organisations." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_navigation_service_provider

[Major Nikon]

49. The privatized Swiss controller controlling 3 aircraft managed to run 2 of them into each other

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cberlingen_mid-air_collision

[nilram]

54. And I saw that Britain had issues when their privatized ATC

moved to newer technology. Would like to find a good summary, or set of case studies, on the various ATCs around the world. Will read that Canadian paper when I can make time for it.

[bluevoter4life]

57. But other countries do not have

The amount of traffic and complexity that the US has. The 4 busiest airports in the world (as of 2014) are located in the US. In order, they are ORD, ATL, DFW, and LAX. We'll take the 4th airport, LAX, and compare it other airports. In 2014, LAX had 636,706 aircraft movements, a 3.5% increase over 2013. The 5th place airport, Bejing, had 581,773. That is a difference of over 54,000 operations, which is equivalent to a whole other airport in the US, with a control tower. ORD had 881,933. The US is far and away the busiest, most complex airspace in the world, containing 16 of the world's 30 busiest airports (again, as of 2014). If you were to look at a map of airspace of any of the Class Bravo airports in this country, it is easy to see how complex and congested it gets. There are over 5,000 airplanes in the sky above the US at any given time, and we manage to move them all safely and efficiently. And we do it on little sleep and a circadian rhythm, that for the most part, doesn't exist in our world. We are constant targets of political games, that, despite a strong union, is always on the chopping block for layoff and elimination altogether. The countries that have private ATC do not have the hassles we have to deal with, but with that, travelers sacrifice service.

[nilram]

60. Thanks for that perspective. Agree, it's quite complex.

[Major Nikon]

62. From a pilot's perspective I can say that the service is incredibly good

I almost always fly IFR and although I've had a few minor quibbles here and there, the service is top notch.

This isn't about improving service or anything else the GOP is saying. It's simply about selling out a government service which costs the general public very little and returns an excellent service that benefits everyone. It's about a giveaway of our federalized ATC system to corporate interests which will inevitably benefit them at the expense of everyone else.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

33. All based on an ideology that "government can't do ANYTHING right".

[pansypoo53219]

37. CALL IT PROFITEERING. THE GOP LOVES PROFITEERING. WHERE IS HARRY TRUMAN??????

[groundloop]

40. As a pilot I've observed that contract control towers are the worst

I've been a pilot for quite a few years, one control tower near me is a contract tower. Service at that airport is consistently worse than at any of the FAA run towers I've been to. That's what happens when you go with the lowest bidder.

And if by chance this legislation doesn't go through, or the repubs can't override President Obama's veto I have no doubt that they'll choke the FAA until service deteriorates, and then they'll be saying "see how bad FAA controllers are, we MUST go with contractors".

[Spitfire of ATJ]

45. They tried to do that with the DMV here in Vegas but people got wise to them and complained....

You walk into an office with 45 workstations and only eight people working. There's always one smug asshole walking around back there that you KNOW is "the boss" who doesn't seem to serve a function beyond that of an overseer.

[bluevoter4life]

55. The problem with contract towers

Is that, although many of the controllers are either retired FAA or former military controllers, the company they work for mans the towers at minimum staffing. During busy traffic rushes, there is ONE person by him/herself controlling all the movements of aircraft. No second set of eyes, no ground controller, nobody else. Many times, that person is the only person on duty for an ENTIRE shift. I have co-workers who were contract controllers and they do not support the privitizing of the NAS. Everyone agrees that the FAA, and the government as a whole, has a lot of areas where there needs to be cuts (many agencies hire 4 secretaries to do the job of 1 or 2), but leaving a critical aspect of the national infrastructure in the hands of the lowest bidder, is certainly not the way to go. We are VERY top-heavy in management in the FAA, and many of us believe (myself included) that we need to do away with so many manager jobs. Privitizing in other countries has proven to be a failure. Some things are inherently governmental. ATC is certainly one of them.

[wordpix]

79. lowest bidder + Wall St. corps running the show =

disaster at control towers. The corporations that win bids will be hiring anyone who'll accept min. wage, and that won't be experienced controllers. Meanwhile the corp. execs will be making million$ for their salaries as the control towers fall into outmoded technology and other infrastructure.

[mnhtnbb]

42. Well, that's it. No more air travel for me.

[SoapBox]

47. NO!

Period.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

51. Object lesson: Skyguide and the DHL/Bashkirian midair in 2002.

One cause was the Bashkirian pilot's misuse of the collison avoidance system (TCAS), but a major cause was that the private Swiss air traffic control facility, Skyguide, allowed a single controller to handle the sector and monitor two radio frequencies even while the radar was being repaired and a phone line was out of service. Several employees of Skyguide were criminally prosecuted in Switzerland for their negligent management of the facility.

[Coventina]

53. Great idea!!! What could POSSIBLY go wrong?!?!

[jmowreader]

58. Ask Ryan Maseth's mother how she feels about privatization

Ryan Maseth was an Army Special Forces soldier deployed to Iraq who was electrocuted while taking a shower in his barracks room. He died because the private contractor who was responsible for maintaining troop billeting in Iraq (KBR, if you hadn't already guessed) and who found the bad ground before this guy died was not being paid to correct "potential hazards" but only to fix things after they broke.

[quadrature]

59. why are airlines some kind of protected species

why is the middle class
always the enemy here?

[PSPS]

61. Let me guess. The private company Mica has in mind is owned by a big contributor.

[bluevoter4life]

63. None of the big three contract ATC companies are listed but....

AND




Just follow the money......


This information is off of OpenSecrets.org. I know there is nothing in the pictures that says "John Mica" but you can find it on there if you type it in. Just wanted to cite my source.

[bluevoter4life]

82. Pictures didn't post

But one of the largest contributes to John Mica's campaign is Airlines for America and the single largest industry to contribute is the Air Transport industry. Coincidence? I think not.

[locks]

65. Good idea

Let all the training be done by military contractors and all the oversight by the people running our private prisons. If anything goes wrong President Bush and VP Fiorina will straighten it out.

[Ichingcarpenter]

70. When things are privatized FOIA becomes worthless

because now it becomes proprietary information and not public so citizens will no longer have a right to know.

This may not seem to be a major point on this bullshit idea but it effects democracy itself let alone tracing down the causes of aircraft accidents.

[bluevoter4life]

73. You need not worry

I'll be one of the ones who will volunteer the information I am able to give when asked.

[Ichingcarpenter]

74. I'm glad you can be so many places at the same time

within your organization in order to give us the truth forever. Wink Wink nod nod.

Anyway the whole privatizing scam is not only for profit but for more secrecy and non accountability.

[nolabels]

84. Internalize profits, socialize any loss

The reptilian brain is alive and well in our corporate overlords

[Enthusiast]

71. "We just can't their wages and benefits low enough to suit us."

Besides, just imagine the profit.

[fredamae]

76. The GOP seems to

want to get a head start on the TPP.

[notadmblnd]

77. Congress needs to allocate the money needed for upgrades and get it done

instead they're going to sell it to the highest donor and allow them once again to loot the treasury. Who here will feel comfortable getting on an airplane once the system is privatized? Not me, that's fer sure.

[leveymg]

78. That will likely work about as well as privatized space travel.

[Todays_Illusion]

80. Theft of tax funds for profit and wage suppression is what privatization is.

Has anyone ever seen a so called news article that tells the truth about privatization and why does anyone go along with it. It is a way to cut worker's pay and use tax money for profit.

No tax money has ever been saved by this but the money instead of paying workers, goes to already wealthy for profit. Profit from tax investment and tax support.