Report pushes privatization of air traffic control

A free-market think tank, rebuffing union arguments that privatization of the nation's air traffic control system would be disastrous, said in a new report that such an overhaul of the system is necessary to maintain safety while decreasing costs.

The Bush administration is considering designating air traffic control as a "commercial activity," which would make it possible to privatize the system, as many free-market activists and some within the aviation industry have urged.

Although the Bush administration has denied that it will move forward with a privatization effort, union officials worry the White House is simply laying the groundwork for such a move.

The issue of air traffic control privatization could also play into Congress' efforts this year to reauthorize AIR-21, the nation's aviation infrastructure law. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association last year released a report warning privatization could severely harm the safety and security of the system.

But in the latest report, Reason Public Policy Institute researchers argue that Canada and several European countries have moved towards privatization without the dire consequences union officials have predicted.