Yesterday, Congressman Bill Shuster, chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, announced he is abandoning his multi-year push (going back to at least 2015) aimed at privatizing the U.S. ATC system. The idea was sold as a way to remove roughly 35,000 employees from federal service, but many saw that in fact, the idea was just a way to give more leverage to the airlines and other corporate interests.
This is a big victory for all of us who want FAA to stop being a captured agency, a faux-regulator that fails to serve people while serving only aviation commerce.
Below is an archived compilation of various news articles with the announcement. The actual Press Release has not yet been posted at Congressman Shuster’s website.
Click on the image below for a scrollable view; the PDF file may be downloaded.
See also this earlier aiReform content:
- 7/11/2017 – Shuster & A4A’s House Legislation, Aiming to Privatize ATC
- 2/26/2016 – Shuster/A4A’s AIRR Act is All but Dead
- 2/24/2016 – AIRR: Going Nowhere (while Shuster schleps in Florida!)
- 2/6/2016 – AIRR Act is Shuster Serving the Airline Corporatocracy
- 6/15/2015 – [ai-RCHIVE] Bill Shuster, Aero Club Speech, and ATC Privatization