In case anyone was getting excited about the possibilities of a new air traffic control system and new funding of of the nation’s air traffic infrastructure, don’t hold your breath. With a sense of deja vu the House passed a temporary Federal Aviation Administration authorization extension yesterday.
Work on the Senate side of the bill, specifically in the Finance Committee has ground to a halt. Basically, the debate about health care is sucking the wind out of other important programs that should be passed to serve the needs of the American people.
Improving the air traffic control system is key to allowing our air transportation system to function in an optimal manner. For years, the FAA has been denied a long-term funding source necessary for making investments to improve the system.
These “extensions” (now six in a row) handicap the government from long-term outlooks and firm planning. In turn, the private sector (airlines) and local public sectors (airports) that must invest at least as much as the government to modernize our air-traffic world are prevented from making the investments in instrumentation that they need to make because of uncertainty and shifting technological requirements.
The failure of our lawmakers to find a way to fund and pass an FAA reauthorization act is shameful. They are blatantly ignoring the needs of their constituents in this sector. Once or twice might be acceptable, but six extensions, six failures and six delays should never happen.
Unfortunately, with the track record of Congress in terms of the air traffic control system, passengers are going to continue to be delayed, tarmac horror stories will still develop, carbon emissions will continue to spew on the the runways in long take-off lines and jet fuel will continue to be wasted on circuitous routes. More of the same.
It should’t be this way. We have the technology. We have the money. We lack only leadership and a Congress that finds it easier to keep putting off decisions rather than rolling up its sleeves and getting their job done.
If the government runs a health-care system with the same alacrity that they are running our air-traffic control system, heaven help us.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
