https:\/\/www.nbaa.org\/advocacy\/letters\/20170227-Moran-Klobuchar-ATC-letter-to-Chao.pdf<\/a><\/p>\nAmong the factors impacting the continuing debate over ATC modernization, and ongoing development of the FAA\u2019s \u201cNextGen\u201d air transportation network, has been the concept, long pushed by some airlines, for replacing congressional oversight of the nation’s ATC network with a private entity, governed by an airline-centric board, and funded by new user fees. The concept has long been opposed by NBAA and other organizations, as well as by federal and local elected officials, and most voters.<\/p>\n
In reference to the issue, the senators\u2019 letter recalls that during her confirmation hearing, Chao stated that \u201cany decision on changes to air traffic control in the United States needed \u2018to be a dialogue, a great discussion, a national discussion,\u2019 and would require a \u2018national consensus.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The senators\u2019 letter agrees with the assessment, adding: \u201cWe appreciate your commitment to discussion and consensus-building on this important issue. We also agree that the process should involve all stakeholders in carefully evaluating the current ATC system, the costs and benefits of various proposals, and the impact on all who would be affected.<\/p>\n
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen thanked the senators for their message to Chao, and noted that, while ATC modernization and privatization are often conflated into the same discussion, \u201cwe must not allow talk of privatization to become a debilitating distraction from the absolute necessity of continuing the progress we\u2019ve made on aviation system modernization.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe fully support an open and honest discussion about the most effective means to accomplish our shared goals of maintaining America\u2019s world-leading position in aviation, and I welcome the commitment expressed by Sens. Moran and Klobouchar, and Secretary Chao, to continuing to build on a consensus-based modernization program that reflects that goal,\u201d Bolen concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) welcomed a letter sent this week by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) to Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, in support of her call, issued during her recent confirmation hearings, for a \u201cnational discussion\u201d regarding modernization of the nation’s air traffic control (ATC) system. In their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8309,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8308\/revisions\/8309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}