Jeffrey Frankel is a professor of capital formation and growth at Harvard University and a research associate at the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research.
With air travel finally returning to pre-pandemic levels, airport traffic has become exceptionally hectic. Many passengers, especially in the United States, have faced maddening flight delays, with many more suffering unnecessarily long flying times. But, most worrying of all, trends are pointing to a frightening increase in airport near-misses.
To be sure, the U.S. has an outstanding record of aviation safety, with no fatal commercial airplane crashes since 2009. But the frequency of close calls between planes in U.S. airports has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic: approximately 300 near-collisions were reported over the past year. This alarming surge can be partly attributed to a critical shortage of qualified air-traffic controllers, which has put severe pressure on America’s air-traffic control (ATC) system. According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, there are 1,000 fewer controllers working today than 10 years ago, despite the increase in air travel. The U.S. is currently facing a shortfall of roughly 3,000 controllers, as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has acknowledged.
Consequently, air-traffic controllers frequently find themselves working overtime. The ATC’s antiquated equipment compounds the problem of widespread exhaustion. Despite big advances in computing and satellite-based telecommunications, controllers continue to rely on systems that date back to the 1950s. Shockingly, some still use paper strips to keep track of planes.
Moreover, the ATC system – managed by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is also the agency responsible for air safety regulation – suffers from a lack of stable, multiyear funding. This hinders ATC planning and impedes investments in up-to-date equipment and the recruitment of controllers. The FAA is barely training enough new controllers to replace those reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56 or opting for early retirement. At this pace, the agency cannot address the current shortfall, let alone keep up with the long-term growth in air travel.
Given that it takes three years to train new air-traffic controllers, the FAA needs urgently to boost trainee numbers to achieve normal staffing levels. But the uncertainty surrounding the agency’s budget poses a major challenge. Congressional Republicans have repeatedly threatened to cut appropriations as part of their efforts to reduce the U.S. fiscal deficit by slashing non-defence discretionary spending. The 2018-19 government shutdown, for example, closed the FAA training academy in Oklahoma City, impeding the employment of new controllers. A potential shutdown in February could prolong the current shortage well into the 2030s. But the problem goes beyond funding. Another cause of is the disproportionate allocation of resources to corporate jets, at the expense of larger commercial planes.
A solution to America’s aviation crisis, supported by various experts, would be to adopt Canada’s successful approach: transfer the ATC system from the FAA to a nonprofit corporation and fund it through user fees. This is the “public utility” model. Having users, rather than Congress, fund the organization would allow it to hire a new generation of controllers and invest in technology.
While entrusting such a crucial function to a private corporation might appear risky to some, such concerns would be misguided. The FAA would still oversee and maintain safety. In fact, the current arrangement, in which the FAA both operates and regulates the ATC, represents a conflict of interest. Many developed countries, including Australia, Germany, Britain and New Zealand, have partly or completely privatized their ATC systems, with significant positive results.
Similar proposals to privatize the ATC system have been endorsed by independent experts over the years. They range from libertarians at the Reason Foundation and the Cato Institute, to Dorothy Robyn, who worked on former president Bill Clinton’s unsuccessful efforts to corporatize the ATC system in the 1990s.
Why, then, were these proposals not implemented? One answer is the political power wielded by corporate jet owners. This small but highly influential group has its own successful lobbying operation focused on retaining cheap access to airports.
As it stands, the system heavily subsidizes small private jets at the expense of harried commercial passengers, who are forced to pay substantial taxes and fees. Despite representing about one-sixth of the flights managed by the FAA, private jets contribute only 2 per cent of the agency’s tax revenue.
The ATC system must have incentives to prioritize commercial airlines, which are more attuned to passengers’ needs, over the interests of the private-jet lobby. Privatizing the ATC system would make it accountable to the public and would compel private-jet owners to pay their fair share. This would result in fewer takeoffs and landings, thereby reducing airport congestion.
Although policymakers and scholars are well aware of the role that small yet powerful interest groups in Washington play, travelers may not be. If voters understood the causal link, perhaps Congress would be motivated to act.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2023. www.project-syndicate.org