Can you imagine going on a trip that was carefully plannedafter a thorough review of cheaptravel options, such as cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, and cheap vacation packages, onlyto forcibly be dragged off a plane after sitting down at your assigned seat?
Lawmakers have started to question whether the move of airtraffic control from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to a privatecorporation would be wise, after recent airline fiascos. The most notable recent debacle took place onApril 9th when United Airlines dragged a passenger off one of itsflights to make room for a crew member.
Lawmakers are also very concerned that the lack oftechnological investment by airlines has resulted in occasional airlinecomputer problems at multiple airlines which have forced the cancellation ofthousands of flights.
Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon, the top Democrat onthe House Transportation Committee, contends that the airline industry needs tofocus on getting its own house in order, instead of extending its reach tocontrol Americas skies.
A bill was approved by the committee last year to privatizeair traffic control. The reasoningbehind this measure was to provide more stable funding to future air trafficinitiatives than are possible via the FAA, which has unpredictable annualappropriations from Congress. To date,neither the full House or Senate has debated the measure. Full debate is expected later this year inpart because FAA policy legislation must be renewed by September 30th.
Airlines are major proponents of modernizing equipment tomake routes faster and operate more efficient flights via more precisetracking. A private company could sellbonds to modernize equipment, which airlines claim would enable air traffic toupgrade from ground based radar to satellite based GPS technology more quickly.
Skeptics are concerned about giving airlines a bigger voiceas to how flights are guided, via seats on a private board. Groups representing business jets and generalaviation pilots fear that they will be forced to bear a larger share of costsof the new system.
Some lawmakers question how travelers would be able tomonitor routing, scheduling, and investments in technology made by a privatecompany.
Airlines contend that flying straighter routes than thecurrent zig-zap paths and smoother landing descents than the current stair-steproutes would result in airlines burning less fuel and saving fliers time.
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