US: House Transportation panel endorses corporation to run ATC system

The House Transportation Committee, voting along party lines, Thursday approved a far-reaching proposal backed by GOP leaders to shift the entire US air-traffic control system under the purview of a stand-alone, nonprofit corporation. Part of a broad, three-year FAA reauthorization bill that includes other controversial provisions and faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, the move caps decades of on-and-off deliberations aimed at enhancing traffic control efficiency and modernization by stripping those responsibilities out of the agency. The FAA, however, would retain the final say over all safety matters. By a 34-25 vote, the panel endorsed creation of a stand-alone corporation—with a proposed governing board dominated by mainline carriers and labor representatives—intended to oversee the network’s day-to-day operations. The same board, independent of Congress, also would implement tens of billions of dollars in eventual satellite-based navigation upgrades and levy a new user fee primarily on mainline passenger and cargo carriers to fund those efforts.<br/>