The Urgent Need to Reform the FAA's Air Traffic Control System

Publication Date: March 2007

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Robert W. Jr. Poole

Research Area: Transportation

Type: Report

Abstract:

Aviation accounts for about 9 percent of U.S. gross domestic product ($900 billion per year). U.S. companies depend on the airlines to transport their employees, and a growing number of all sizes make use of business aviation: corporate jets and turboprops, air taxi services, and fractional-ownership programs.

Congress can open the door to NextGen by dramatically reforming the Air Traffic Organization, the entity within the FAA that is responsible for the air traffic control system. By adopting what has become the global model of best practice in air traffic control--the self-funded air navigation service provider--Congress can transform the ATO into the kind of institution that can deliver the next-generation ATC system that America needs.