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Author Note
This paper was prepared for ENGL 123, English Composition, taught by Dr. Toni M. Holland
determined benefits expected during this 5-year period. (GAO, 2013 April).
Up until the year 2030 an economic analysis reports a $37 billion receipt for
the FAA while generating $106 billion in benefit, both during the
implementation process (DeGood). With a project that is noted for high-risk
mismanagement vulnerability, who is supposed to support its
implementation if things go awry missed deadlines, overspending, etc.?
The federal government came to be involved with the air traffic control
system in 1937 because airlines did not have jurisdiction over non-airline
traffic, such as cargo and general aviation or private aircraft. The
Department of Commerce acquired the air traffic control units (ACTU)
created by a group of airlines in 1934, changing their titles to Air Traffic
Control Station (ACTS). This allowed for the government oversight of air
traffic on the ground and in the air (Adams, 2005). The 1957 Airways
Modernization Act allowed for the development of a modernized, national
ATC, system. The responsibility to regulate navigable airspace for civil and
military operations was delegated by the Department of Transportation, or
DOT, to the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, in 1967.
Talks of privatizing ATC has been a constant for several decades within
the walls of the government. As of now, the air traffic control system in the
United States is funded by annual appropriations and the Airport and Airway
Trust Fund, or AATF. The AATF receives excise taxes from shares of airline
tickets, international arrivals and departures, air cargo, and commercial and
general aviation fuel (DeGood). Robert W. Poole, Jr. of Reason Foundation
writes in Business Jets and ATC User Fees: Taking a Closer Look removing
ATC from the federal budget process and creating a user-oriented
governance mechanismknown globally as ATC commercializationcan
address all three impediments, referring to lack of capital funding, FAAs
high implementation risk, and political opposition to facility opposition
(2006).
Instead of having private corporations own pieces of an intricately
connected global system, the current stakeholders need reorganize and plan
for these future implementations, with an increase in taxes. They are an
expected expense, easily calculated, collected, and reasonable and can be
raised equally through a structured process. There will always be airborne
customers and shippers who are willing to pay these fees. A satellite network
is high-risk because aircraft manufacturers have to update their onboard
avionics systems, and ATC systems will have to effectively communicate
wherever aircraft fly, all over the globe - if one system fails, accidents may
happen.
Another option is to reassess essential personnel on a regular basis. An
outcome of a 1981 the United States strike was that the ATC system
maintained efficient levels of operations using 20 percent less workforce
than before the strike. If the DoT and FAA were to take an assessment of
essential personnel, overstaffing and overspending could be avoided. And
what about protecting the public interest? The primary goal of any for-profit
corporation is generate a profit, consistently. If they recess into the red,
References
Adams, A. W. (2005). The effects of air traffic control privatization on
operating cost and flight
ntid=27203
essential-questions-about-air-traffic-control-privatization/
http://www.transtats.bts.gov/
Poole, R. W. (2006). Business jets and ATC user fees: Taking a closer look. Los
Angeles, CA:
Reason Foundation.
http://www.britannica.com/technology/radar/Electronic-
countermeasures-electronic- warfare#ref398732
United States Government and Accountability Office. (2005, January). High
risk series: An
http://gao.gov/products/GAO-05-207
United States Government and Accountability Office. (2013, April). NextGen
air transportation