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https://manhattan.institute/article/dont-let-air-traffic-control-become- another-amtrak

Government-sheltered monopolies have been a steady drain on taxpayers for decades, says Diana Furchtgott-Roth

The summer travel season is in full swing — and about 16 legislative days
are left until funding for the Federal Aviation Administration expires on
July 15.

The House and Senate are trying to compromise on a bill to reauthorize
spending for the agency. The outcome could determine whether the nation’s air-traffic-control system is a thriving, vibrant part of U.S. aviation or becomes as infamous as the post office, Amtrak and those painfully long
airport security lines in terms of consumer service and as, in at least
those first two, a sinkhole for taxpayer money.

“Instead of creating a new federal entity, Congress should free each
airport to choose the air-traffic-control service it prefers.”

Awaiting floor action is a House bill supported by the federal National
Air Traffic Controllers Association union. It would spin off the air- traffic-control part of the FAA into a federally chartered nonprofit corporation. A FAA reauthorization bill recently passed by the Senate
doesn’t include the spinoff provision.

Congress should go with the Senate version. Here’s why.

In a February memo to its members, NATCA listed 14 advantages of the House bill. These include keeping the union “as the exclusive representative of
those represented today;” “collective bargaining agreements, orders,
rules, practices remain in effect until renegotiated;” “labor seats on the governance board;” and the carry-over of all benefits and contracts.

True privatization would be a step forward. But with NATCA’s provisions in
the bill, the new Air Traffic Control entity wouldn't have the flexibility
to reduce costs in the same way as other private entities can. It also
would be a monopoly, so it would be protected from competition. Government-sheltered monopolies such as Amtrak and the U.S. Postal Service
have been a steady drain on taxpayers for decades. In 2015, Amtrak lost
$307 million, and the U.S. Postal Service lost $5.1 billion.

Amtrak and the post office have unionized workforces that make it
difficult for them to implement cost- and labor-saving technology. Transportation Security Administration red tape means it can’t quickly
address those long lines that cause travelers to miss their flights. The
new ATC Corp. would have union representation on its board of directors
and on its advisory board.

After President Reagan fired more than 10,000 members of the Professional
Air Traffic Controllers Organization when they refused to return to work
during a 1981 strike that threatened to cripple the U.S. economy, air-
traffic controllers organized again under the National Air Traffic
Controllers Association in 1987. NATCA has powerful friends in Congress, including Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), chairman of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Rep. Frank Lobiondo (R-NJ), chairman of the
House Aviation Subcommittee, who want to help the union cause.

Paul Rinaldi, the president of NATCA, testified before the House
Transportation Committee on Feb. 10 that his union supports the proposed
ATC Corp. because it keeps workers’ compensation packages, including pay, pensions, health insurance and “negotiated agreements for their work
rules.” He threatened to withhold support for the legislation if these principles are violated.

NATCA lobbied extensively to make sure that its workers face no change
under the new bill, including any change to their collective-bargaining
rights. Air-traffic controllers can make a top salary of $185,000, plus
federal benefits such as health insurance and pensions, work-life benefits
such as elder care, and legal and concierge services, and tuition reimbursement.

Under current law, ATC workers, along with other federal workers, have to
take an oath not to strike, and workers who do strike can be fired. Under
the House bill, striking would be treated as merely an unfair labor
practice, for which the penalty is not firing, but a hearing before the
Federal Labor Relations Authority—which has to wait at least five days
before holding the hearing. Imagine five days of grounded flights.

“Privatizing an inefficient government bureaucracy would be true progress.
But real privatization means competition and getting the government out of regulating business practices...”

The House bill codifies in law that NATCA would be the “exclusive representatives of FAA employees” in the new ATC Corp. But with the same
union, the same contract, no permitted competition from other firms, and
no serious penalty for striking, there would be no advantage to moving air-traffic controllers to a separate ATC Corp. The union provisions in
the House bill were crafted to attract support from Democrats, but not one voted for the bill.

A better approach would be to give air-traffic controllers the same right
as other Americans to choose their own union—or no union at all.

Instead of creating a new federal entity, Congress should free each
airport to choose the air-traffic-control service it prefers. There could
be one agreed-upon set of communications protocols, and each service
provider would have to abide by those protocols. There are tens of
thousands of public safety systems in the U.S., and they all can connect
with each other.

Privatizing an inefficient government bureaucracy would be true progress.
But real privatization means competition and getting the government out of regulating business practices, including compensation. In drafting their
Senate bill, Sens. John Thune and Bill Nelson, the chairman and ranking
member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation,
were clever enough not to repeat the post office and Amtrak mistakes with
FAA reauthorization. It is time the House wised up as well.


--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
eradicated.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

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