Although President Donald Trump suggested the idea of privatizing the Federal Aviation Administration or its air traffic controllers in his first term, the concept seems to be off the table now.
When asked about it this past week on a news program, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that he currently has no plans to do so.
“I could spend my time the next three and a half years fighting over privatization. I’m not going to do that,” said Duffy. “What I’m going to do is put every resource into training up more air traffic controllers to get them certified in their airspace in which they’re going to work but also getting those experienced controllers to stay on the job, paying them a little more to not retire and continue to work for us.”
This follows similar comments from Duffy in May, when he said at a press conference, “To have a fight about privatization is just going to divide people. And what that’ll actually do is make sure that we don’t actually build a brand-new air traffic control system.”
Early in Trump’s second term, the FAA ran into myriad issues, including a midair collision near Washington’s Reagan National Airport, staffing shortages, radar problems affecting Newark’s Liberty International Airport, and several near misses.
NPR has reported that several other countries have partially or completely privatized their air traffic control systems, including Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, and the U.K.
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