[2015-2016] Don't Let Air-Traffic Control Become Another Amtrak

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.


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