“The battle over ATC privatization won’t end with Transportation Committee chairman Bill Shuster’s retirement,” NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said this morning at the NBAA regional forum in West Palm Beach, Florida. “We’re using the regional forum to call members to action on this very issue.” Shuster (R-Pennsylvania) announced early this month that he would not seek re-election this year.
Bolen noted that the push for separating air traffic services from the FAA is “still very much alive,” adding this will continue to be amplified as the current FAA reauthorization extension expires in March. To counter this, NBAA and other general aviation groups have created the ATC Not for Sale program, which is on full display today at the forum via banners and T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan.
“Members are critical to the success of our efforts to abate the ATC privatization push,” he stressed. “We’re asking everyone to take three minutes of their time to contact their members of Congress to tell them that our ATC system isn’t for sale.” The association has set up a Contact Congress webpage to make it easy for members to contact their representatives in Washington, D.C.