House panel votes to privatize air traffic control

WASHINGTON – A House committee approved landmark legislation Thursday to shift air-traffic control from the Federal Aviation Administration to a not-for-profit corporation, in an effort to provide more stable funding and avoid congressional politics.

After more than eight hours of voting on amendments, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the bill on a 32-26 vote. The bill now goes to the full House and must still be considered by the Senate.

“The FAA’s failure to modernize the system has been well documented,” said Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., the committee chairman who wrote the bill. “With a modern system, we’ll see more effective use of the airspace, more direct routes, increased capacities, shorter flight times, reduced delays and cancellations, and reduced pollution and noise.”

The top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, proposed to scrap Shuster’s proposal and protect FAA from congressional meddling by making its funding automatic, rather than subject to annual decisions from lawmakers, with an overhaul of personnel and procurement policies. But his amendment was rejected on a 25-34 vote.

“I think fracturing the FAA is a mistake,” DeFazio said.

Controversial bill aims to privatize air-traffic control

The air-traffic control change is part of FAA policy legislation, to replace current law that expires March 31. Other provisions in the bill would:

• Require airlines to refund baggage fees for bags delayed more than 24 hours on domestic flights.

• Ban the use of cell phones for in-flight voice calls on scheduled passenger flights.

• Authorize the Transportation Department to establish a smartphone application for consumer complaints.

• Require large and medium airports to provide private rooms in every terminal for nursing mothers.

• Require airlines to notify families before tickets are booked if family members will be assigned seats that aren't together.

The air-traffic control change dominated the debate about the bill so far.

Cost, noise debated in privatizing air-traffic control

Advocates contend that FAA is unable to upgrade and manage its operations as fast or efficiently as the industry needs. Government Accountability Office and inspector general reports have chronicled problems for decades about FAA modernization falling behind schedule and running over budget.

But opponents worry that the corporation will ignore the interests of travelers and general-aviation pilots who share the skies. They also fear changing the system will disrupt progress being made in modernizing the system from ground-based radar to satellite-based navigation.

Most major airlines represented by the trade group Airlines for America support the change. So does the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union representing the workers who would remain controllers under the corporation.

But Delta Air Lines and the Regional Airline Association oppose the change.

The Air Line Pilots Association, a union representing pilots, opposes the bill for a variety of reasons including concerns about general-aviation paying its share.

The bill would change the way the system is funded, from current taxes on airlines to a user fee based on the weight and distance of flights.

The bill exempts most of general aviation from the fee changes because those pilots will continue to pay an aviation fuel tax. Business jets that charge customers would pay fees based on weight and distance like airliners, Shuster said.

But some general-aviation groups voiced concerns about the fees and that controllers would favor airliners over the pilots of smaller planes.

The top lawmakers on the Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate oppose the legislation for threatening to eliminate their oversight.

But Shuster said nobody is giving up jurisdiction more than his committee, and the change is necessary to keep the country a leader in aviation.

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