Thanks, Simon, for pointing out some of the advantages of ATC corporations. Only a handful (such as Nav Canada) count as privatized. The vast majority are government corporations, but they are not part of the government’s budget and hence have been de-politicized.
And that is really the key to ATC reform. ATC is essentially a public utility, like toll roads, electric utilities, etc. They send bills to their customers based on what those customers use. Since ATC is in most cases a de-facto monopoly, those revenue streams are bondable. That means major capital investments can be long-term financed. FAA lacks that ability, so it subsists on meager annual appropriations. That makes it impossible to replace the large array of obsolete facilities. It also means that a new technology (such as electronic flight strips) gets implemented in dribs and drabs over 15 year or more (an FAA “waterfall”), and by the time the last facility gets it, the tech may be obsolete. Depoliticization also enables large-scale facility consolidation which our Congress is generally hostile to. The ATC corporations in Australia, Germany, South Africa, and the UK have each consolidated high-altitude centers, which is unlikely to happen in the USA as long as Congress holds the purse strings. The latest data from CANSO, as documented in a 2025 report by my Reason colleague Marc Scribner, finds that, as of last year, 98 countries receive their air traffic management from user-funded ATC corporations. (https://reason.org/policy-brief/annual-aviation-infrastructure-report-2025) From: Simon Brown via Mifnet <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> Sent: Monday, July 7, 2025 7:40 AM To: mifnet@lists.mifnet.com Cc: srbr...@doctors.org.uk Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 73005] Re: Before We Copy Canada, Let's Ask the Right Questions Why would ATC privatisation be “a disaster”? Does it matter who owns it, runs it, or gets paid for working it as long as it works? Canada seems to work. NATS UK and Ireland seem to work. The privatised European ATC providers seem to work. Which systems are more often criticised for not working well? USA (public), France (public), Spain (public) etc. (Spain improved but only after years of industrial disputes and wasting millions of tonnes of fuel through intransigent and unco-operative controllers). Simon From: R. Michael Baiada via Mifnet <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com <mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> > Sent: 03 July 2025 03:57 To: mifnet@lists.mifnet.com <mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> Cc: R. Michael Baiada <rmbai...@greenlandings.net <mailto:rmbai...@greenlandings.net> > Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 72969] Re: Before We Copy Canada, Let's Ask the Right Questions Doug, I hope you are correct, since, in my opinion, ATC privatization of the US ATC system would be a disaster. That said, I noticed that no one answered my question, “What causes most airline delays“. As Bob Mann said, - “none of the 'Brand New ATC' proposals takes a root cause based approach to why much of air traffic management is necessary and driving poorer outcomes”. Thanks, Michael xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx R. Michael Baiada ATH Group, Inc. cell - (303) 521-6047 <mailto:rmbai...@greenlandings.net> rmbai...@greenlandings.net <http://www.greenlandings.net/> www.GreenLandings.net xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx The information contained in this email (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510-252 and is confidential and proprietary and should be treated as such. The information contained herein may contain ATH Group, Inc. Privileged/Proprietary Information and is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you received this transmission in error, please immediately notify the sender by email or telephone, and destroy the original message and any copies thereof in whatever medium stored. Information contained in this message that does not relate to the business of ATH Group, Inc. is neither endorsed by nor attributable to ATH Group, Inc. Thank you. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx From: Doug Church via Mifnet <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com <mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> > Sent: Wednesday, July 2, 2025 14:59 To: mifnet@lists.mifnet.com <mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> Cc: athgr...@baiada.com <mailto:athgr...@baiada.com> ; Doug Church <dchurc...@gmail.com <mailto:dchurc...@gmail.com> > Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 72963] Re: Before We Copy Canada, Let's Ask the Right Questions Literally nobody in a position of authority is proposing privatizing the U.S. air traffic control system. Not the President. Not Congress. Not the FAA. Not the airlines or their trade group (A4A). Nobody. This is all just noise. Time to tune it out and focus on modernizing the current U.S. system, as the money in the Senate version of the OBBB stipulates, as a down payment on this desperately-needed endeavor. -Doug On Wed, Jul 2, 2025 at 4:49 PM ATHGroup--- via Mifnet <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com <mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> > wrote: Before We Copy Canada, Let's Ask the Right Questions (Response to the Forbes.com article: <https://lnkd.in/gqgkfqRP)> Why The U.S. Needs To Privatize Air Traffic Control) While FAA needs newer equipment and more controllers, and we all support modernizing the US ATC system, calls for ATC privatization often rest on vague claims rather than concrete analysis. Beyond soundbites about newer equipment, I have yet to see compelling evidence that privatizing ATC would deliver the promised benefits to airlines and users. So, before we upend our whole ATC system, we need clear answers to some basic, concrete questions: 1. What problem is ATC privatization trying to solve? As any engineer know, before starting a new project we must have a clear definition of the problem based on measurable facts. Yet FAA and airline thinking often reflects 1980s facts, which shape today's operations and equipment design. 2. In what head-to-head metrics does Nav Canada outperform the US ATC system? Do Canadian airports land more aircraft per hour? Are delays less frequent and by what margin? Are Canadian airlines scheduling shorter block times for similar routes? Does Nav Canada have less separation standards enroute or on final? 3. How would privatization increase safety—and by how much? Separating ATC from regulation may reduce perceived conflicts, but is there real-world data showing improved safety? 4. What does “productivity” mean in the context of ATC and airline/users? How is productivity measured for Nav Canada and FAA? Do claimed productivity gains benefit ATC, airlines, or both? 5. If the goal is to reduce delays, is ATC really the problem? After 40+ years of flying, I’ve seen that congestion is mostly caused by the airline's unmanaged “day of” operations—not ATC. And we also need to think through whether these comparisons are even valid, given the scale and complexity differences between US and Canadian ATC systems? The late Dr. Russell Ackoff, a systems thinking pioneer at Penn’s Wharton School, once said: “The righter we do the wrong thing, the wronger we become”. This sums up why I believe ATC privatization is a misguided approach— until, at the very least, these questions are answered. With 30,000 hours flying in commercial and corporate aviation and five decades of expertise in ATC and airline operations, I believe privatizing ATC will be disruptive and bring questionable benefit. But let’s see what the analysis shows. Sadly, airline operations today are patterned after a "fire-and-forget", “wing and a prayer” approach— where airlines send Billions of dollars out on the wing and pray that it all works out Ok. Simply hoping for the best is not a sound business practice. So the real problem with delays, congestion, and emissions isn’t how air traffic is controlled, but the airline industry’s refusal to manage the real-time movement of aircraft. Without change here, delays will persist regardless of who is in charge or how the ATC system is structured. ATC must focus on safety and separation. Airlines must take responsibility for real-time operational excellence. Finally, ATC privatization isn’t a strategy or solution. It’s an ownership change and distraction. If we want real modernization that improves the system, let’s define clear goals and measurable outcomes, while airlines take back management of the movement of their "day of" aircraft. Airlines could. Airlines should. Airlines don’t. Michael xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx R. Michael Baiada cell - (303) 521-6047 rmbai...@greenlandings.net <mailto:rmbai...@greenlandings.net>
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