Selling off air traffic control wont make skies safer

Most American homeowners have a mortgage and other consumer debt. Many also have a backlog of overdue maintenance — painting, roof repair and the like.

The same is true for the federal government. Our current national debt is rapidly approaching $20 trillion. Our nation also has a maintenance backlog of bridges and highways, for example, long overdue for repair. The estimated backlog adds another $6 trillion to $8 trillion.

America’s outdated air traffic control system is part of that backlog.

Congress knows safe air travel is a priority for us all, yet they’re wary of raising taxes or diverting funds from other priority programs to fund needed modernization.

Many leaders in the commercial aviation sector — frustrated with congressional neglect of needed upgrades — support a proposal to take air traffic control authority, equipment and personnel away from the Federal Aviation Administration and “give” it to a not-yet-created nonprofit organization. President Trump on Monday endorsed the plan to move more than 30,000 federal workers in the air traffic control system into such a corporation.

Congress would be happy to have the expense off their “to do” list.

Don’t be fooled by the word “nonprofit” in the proposal. The flying public would foot the bill as the airline industry and other users passed costs along to fare-paying passengers. The proposal will ultimately not save taxpayers a dime and will almost surely cost more than our current approach. Even worse, many smaller regional airports would likely lose air traffic control services under the new arrangement, depriving them of vital commercial and emergency access — a classic case of paying more for less.

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