Influential libertarian think tank the Reason Foundation has written an open letter to the incoming leaders of the Department of Government Efficiency to make air traffic control a "user-funded utility." The foundation, which is credited with coining the term "privatization," says most of the rest of the world has already distanced ATC from direct government control and are better off for it. "...ours is one of the very few still funded by taxes and micromanaged by a political body." the letter to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy says. "Our ATC system is the world’s largest and was once known as the world’s most advanced. That is no longer the case."
In general I’m always against the government but I’d estimate that our ATC system is as least as good as anywhere else in the world. I find the ATC/IFR system to be fairly brilliant actually, with some great minds and great workers involved.
With that said it always seems like we pilots are getting a huge service for no extra money. I know we pay into it somewhat with our taxes and fuel cost but I’m sure we are subsidized for the majority of the expense.
Kind of discredits using NavCanada as an example. I have flown many times to Toronto and I can say that ATC there doesn’t handle anywhere near the traffic the New York area does. And the fact that NavCanada has to deal with many of the same issues US ATC does doesn’t help the privatization argument either. If privatization is so great, why do we have so many student pilots from outside the US?
The Reason Foundation, has been pushing ATC privatization for quite some time, touting “success stories” like Nav Canada. Now, with DOGE under Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, those ideas might get an even louder megaphone. While it’s unclear if they’re teaming up, DOGE’s high-profile leadership could certainly reignite talk about aviation user fees. The big question is—who else might join the party? Airlines? Tech giants? Or influential aviation groups like A4A with a vested interest in the outcome?
“In general I’m always against the government but … …”. Aren’t we all “in general against the government” till we’re not. We’re all against the government till we’re not because we’re too naive to pay attention to how government benefits us till the anarchists try to take it away from us. Then Katy bar the door and we all become world class socialists. We all hate socialism till we take the onramp to the most convenient federally funded interstate highway.
Doctor, had you spent your career in my front office you would not just now be arriving at your conclusion and would long ago have appreciated a publicly funded US ATC system as being the best on the planet, bar none.
ONLY make it “user funded” if it also make the system “accountable” to users.
If I’m directly paying for it then I should have the right to ignore them, boycott them, and/or be able to fire them.
The problem is, if across-the-board budget cuts are implemented by the new administration, user fees are the best approach for the FAA to keep the money coming in. I paid about $400 to the state of Washington last year to license my seven-year-old automobile. Jeff Bezos pays $140 a year for one of his Gulfstreams…assuming he doesn’t have it registered in a cheaper state.
The average citizen is NOT going to be sympathetic if user fees get implemented. And, for politicians digging for public sympathy, slapping the “fat cat airplane owners who have been getting everything for free” is going to be wildly popular.
The public is not going to see any reason at all why aviation users shouldn’t “pay their share.” A $100 landing fee isn’t going to affect Elon Musk, though he can certainly virtuously claim that he’s going to accept it for the good of the nation. The Domestic Oligarchs Grabbing Everything certainly will pitch it as a positive to the average citizen.
If the FAA’s air traffic control system transitions to a private entity, significant adjustments to the funding structure will be necessary. Currently, taxes on airline tickets, aviation fuel, and cargo fund air traffic services through the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF). Introducing user fees under a privatized system raises the issue of double taxation, where users could pay both these existing taxes and the new fees. To avoid this, those taxes would need to be reduced or eliminated. However, the FAA would still require funding for oversight and regulatory functions, likely continuing to rely on general taxpayer contributions.
For airlines and air freight companies, user fees would likely result in higher costs for passengers and shippers as fees are passed along in ticket prices and shipping rates.
General aviation (GA) pilots, however, would bear these fees directly, as they have no way to pass on the costs. This could make flying prohibitively expensive for many, reducing private aviation operations.
Privately funded, I’m all for it. Funded solely by fuel tax. How much fuel does a Cessna 172 hold? How much fuel does a Dreamliner hold? Who’s carrying the brunt of the tax?
The whole “user fees”/“ATC privatization” push is not about efficiency or quality of service or funding. It’s about shifting the cost of the system from everyone (including the airlines and rich oligarchs) paying a little to only the end users paying a lot more.
It’s exactly equivalent to forcing drivers using the highways to pay as they’re getting on the on-ramp - not just on the few toll roads, but every highway. The truckers and bus companies don’t care because they just pass that cost along to the end users. And the rich don’t care because it’s pennies in the wind to them. But everyday average citizens find the costs harder to absorb, so they avoid the highways, which then means costs to use the system goes up because fewer people are paying into it, which raises airline and cargo prices, and it’s just a downward spiral.
It works in other countries because either they have other costs offset by the government, or they just don’t have nearly the same total volume of traffic as the US. Privatized ATC in the US would only work because it will lead to overall less traffic, and thus the overall required funding will be less.
I don’t see this as necessarily meaning a transition to a private entity. The Government has our ADS-B codes now, and it’d be simple to require a credit card be on file for each ADS-B entry. Automatically charge $25 for every landing at a towered field, charge $100 for each VFR flight plan, $200 for each IFR one, etc.
Currently, not every airplane is required to have ADS-B? Easy enough to fix. People complain all the time that some airplanes don’t show up on their fishfinders; they’ll be happy if everyone has to carry ADS-B Out.
For that matter, the FAA already HAS a framework in place for taking money from aircraft owners: The seven-year re-registration cycle. No reason this couldn’t be changed to yearly, and, of course, the current $5 charge for this service could be upped quite a bit.
There are roughly 300,000 aircraft on the US registry. If each owner had to pay, say, $200 a year, that’s $60M into the FAA’s coffers every year.
Sure, many of those owners won’t bother to renew their registrations. But that supports the whole reason the re-registration process was initiated…to eliminate dead wood from the aircraft registry.
Again, the general public should be all in favor of this. A citizen paying $100 a year to license his Ford won’t have any sympathy for the $5 Jeff Bezos has to pay for each of his Gulfstreams…every seven years.
Up here in the frozen north Navcan charges $82.46 per year for aircraft under 2 tonnes, and $275.42 for aircraft up to 3 tonnes. After that as aircraft weight goes up the charges are on a daily basis starting at $50.96 for aircraft up to 5 tonnes, $101.94 between 5 and 6.2 tonnes, $404.11 between 6.2 and 8.6 tonnes and so forth. In addition are charges for using major international airports in Canada.
Avgas is running at just under/around $3.00 per litre which is significantly a tax cost as well. Should you wish to buy a “new” aircraft the government adds a luxury tax on top of the regular value added tax. Happy days.
Where is the FAA or the government going to find the infrastructure to enact any user fee scheme? Look at what happened to the budget when TSA was expanded to handle airline screening. Any supposed savings to the government with user fees will be eaten up setting up an agency to handle these fees. A poster mentioned the 7 year registration cycle. The FAA went to a 7 year registration cycle because the FAA got so far behind with the 3 year cycle that was originally recommended by Congress. Putting every pilot certificate with that persons picture on it and requiring renewal for a current picture was rejected because the FAA is not set up like most states BMV, so the FAA just mandated carrying a government issued picture ID when exercising certificate privileges. Then there is the safety issue. Can you imagine how many pilots would continue to try to keep IFR current with these additional costs? And how many more will just go VFR instead of filing or talking to ATC. The entire safety aspect of ADS-b system would be nullified by pilots turning off that system when flying, going visual even when weather is marginal to avoid charges. People need to think of the consequences if a user fee system where to be enacted in this country. BTW, registration of my truck in Ohio is around $80, with autos a little less. Also there is only one toll road in Ohio.
Privatizing ATC isn’t just about managing air traffic; it’s about deciding who pays, who benefits, and who bears the burden. The risks are significant, the costs are real, and the fallout could disrupt pilots, passengers, and communities across the nation. Any administration pursuing privatization should brace for a politically and economically rough ride—this is a true political hot potato.
Aviation issues don’t typically grab civilian public attention, but nothing gets people talking faster than a hit to their wallets. If ticket prices climb, shipping costs spike, or cherished local airports close down, people will notice—and they won’t be happy. Follow the money: this represents an approximate $10 billion shift to the user, with far-reaching consequences for every corner of aviation and beyond.
Oh…because deregulation for the airlines went SSSSOOOO well. Now we pay twice as much being nickel and dimed to death for everything, the airlines fraudulently sell non-existent seats and then find ways to kick more paying passengers off of their flights, fill aircraft full of seats that people physically can’t fit into, and abuse the hell out of flight crews forcing them to work unpaid for hours every flight. Let’s just make air travel even more expensive by tacking on the cost of ATC to an already massively inflated ticket price as if the government will just gladly lower taxes and not just keep the money and blow it on something else far more useless. I am sure the ATCs will also enjoy being worked longer hours for less pay, getting screwed on their benefits and retirement all so the airline execs and shareholders can line their pockets with passenger blood as safety plummets. That is just a great idea!!!
