Story ID: 
A4A Seeks Self-Funded ATO With Stakeholder Board
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: A4A asks Congress to consider air traffic reforms that would remove governmental constraints and improve ability to manage assets. 
Word Count: 245
Airlines For America (A4A) is asking lawmakers to look at a new air traffic control structure that would involve an independent, multi-stakeholder governing board and a “fair” self-funding model based on costs of services. American Airlines chairman and CEO and A4A vice chairman Doug Parker testified before the House aviation subcommittee during a March 24 hearing on ATC reform that a successful organization must have the ability to manage assets and capital that facilitates modernization at a far greater speed. An air traffic organization also must have effective management teams that can be nimble “without the constraints imposed on government agencies.” Funding should be free from budget constraints and either short-term or declining appropriations, and governance should involved multiple stakeholders.

Parker stressed that the FAA must remain the safety regulator and that any organization and funding structure must be created to accommodate the complexity of the U.S. airspace.  

But he also underscored the need for change, given the significant cost overruns and constraints of existing structure. The organization has been studying models of other countries to see if the U.S. could adopt structures or practices of those organizations.

“Many other countries have taken it on, and we have the benefit of learning from their combined experience,” Parker said. “It would be a shame not to move forward just because the effort is challenging. The immeasurable cost of doing nothing is not an attractive alternative."