Executive order opens door to privatizing air traffic control

A new executive order would make it easier to privatize federal air traffic control operations.

President Bush issued an executive order last week that deleted a clause in a previous order signed by President Clinton in December 2000 that described air traffic control as an "inherently governmental function." Jobs described as inherently governmental can't be privatized.

But privatizing air traffic control operations is a bad idea, according to John Carr, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

"This administration thinks that it can dupe the American people into believing we should follow the failed path of privatization and jeopardize air traffic safety to boot," Carr said.

The Bush administration had indicated before the Sept. 11 attacks that it would consider privatizing the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control system. Robert Poole, a Bush campaign adviser and director of the Reason Public Policy Institute's transportation studies, suggested in a report released in February 2001 that a nonprofit corporation run air traffic control operations. The FAA would still maintain primary oversight of safety, but the nonprofit corporation would run the system's day-to-day operations, according to the proposal.

Poole told GovExec.com in March 2001 that several former FAA officials believe privatization is the only answer to air traffic control woes.

But after Sept. 11, almost all talk of privatization had ground to a halt, according to several FAA officials.

The issue of privatizing air traffic will likely be on the agenda of the agency's new administrator. Current FAA Administrator Jane Garvey will complete her five-year term this summer, and the Bush administration is due to name a replacement.