Influential libertarian think tank the Reason Foundation has written an open letter to the incoming leaders of the Department of Government Efficiency to make air traffic control a “user-funded utility.” The foundation, which is credited with coining the term “privatization,” says most of the rest of the world (83 countries) has already distanced ATC from direct government control and are better off for it. “…ours is one of the very few still funded by taxes and micromanaged by a political body.” the letter to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy says. “Our ATC system is the world’s largest and was once known as the world’s most advanced. That is no longer the case.”
The letter says the inevitable short-term nature of government funding and the limits of it keep ATC constantly starved for innovation and the ability to keep up with technology. “It cannot afford to hire and keep top-quality engineers, software developers, and program managers, so it has become captive of large aerospace companies that define each new system’s requirements and produce new systems with extraneous bells and whistles, at enormous cost,” the letter said.
The Reason Foundation uses Nav Canada as an example saying it has lower costs and is able to be much more nimble in tech acquisition and implementation. But Nav Canada also raised user fees dramatically in response to the sharp reduction of traffic during the COVID pandemic and in recent years has been hit with staff shortages that have resulted in service issues, particularly at and around major airports.
