NATA Offers Congress Its Views On Air Traffic Control Reform

Washington, DC, March 24, 2015 – Today, the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) provided members of the House Aviation Subcommittee with its views on air traffic control reform in response to its hearing entitled, “Options for FAA Air Traffic Control Reform.”  The association, in comments from its President and CEO Thomas L. Hendricks, expressed support for the injection of more private sector practices into the FAA but cautioned “it is important how any changes to the agency are managed in order to maintain a stable, safe and efficient system that protects access for all users of our system.” 

In its statement, NATA discussed whether Transportation Committee Chairman Shuster’s goal of transformational change could be reached through reforms to the agency’s current constructs, including additional procurement and personnel reforms as well as unambiguous congressional exemptions from the impacts of sequestration and governmental shutdowns.

Hendricks also discussed the possibility that policymakers could eventually conclude the challenges to the agency cannot be addressed in its current construct, and urged the Subcommittee in that instance “to be very deliberate in what comes next.” Noting the potential risks reform of the FAA’s management structure and funding could pose to the jobs and investment created by general aviation, Hendricks concluded the association cannot support  “de facto 'leap of faith' proposals that would put general aviation’s fate in the hands of undefined management structures or leave unresolved its contribution to the system.”