Union with local ties opposes new federal aviation bill

A new bill passed by a committee from the U.S. House of Representatives could change the way the aviation industry is operated and maintained. HR Bill 4441 proposes to transfer operation of air traffic services from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to a private non-profit corporation.

The goal of the bill is to reauthorize and streamline programs of the FAA. Congressional members hope this will increase efficiency, minimize the need for federal intervention, and save taxpayers money.

While bill recently passed the house, some groups and agencies hope it doesn’t get much farther and are opposed to the change. One of those groups is the Professional Aviation Safety Specialist (PASS) union. PASS is a union for government employees in the aviation industry, and has members in Idaho and across the country.

“What we’re concerned about is the safety aspect and the efficiency aspect of the national airspace,” said Bill Munger, a local representative for PASS. “If we transfer to a not-for-profit organization, and remove government oversight, it could affect the safety for folks flying in our airspace.”

Munger also said they don’t expect the bill to save the average person money. Right now airline fee’s and tax money make the bulk of the FAA’s operation budget. With the new proposal, the money used for the FAA will be directed elsewhere, and the newly proposed non-profit corporation will make its money entirely from airline and carrier fee’s.

“Those airline fees will directly correlate to the increase in airline ticket price for anyone that wants to travel,” said Munger.

Another concern Munger has is the possibility that the private corporation could look to consolidate by closing some operations in the region. “Consolidation means closing Idaho Falls potentially, closing Pocatello potentially, simply because we’re within 250 300 miles of Salt Lake City,” said Munger.

That fear is shared by some local pilots who enjoy having air traffic services so close to where they fly. “I’m concerned about funding and how it would affect Idaho Falls or Pocatello,” said Bruce Spaulding, a commercial pilot out of Jefferson County.

Spaulding said he’s not opposed to changes with the FAA, he just doesn’t want the area to be negatively impacted by them. “I feel anytime that we can get the government out of involvement of our day-to-day activities, generally that’s a good move,” said Spaulding. “I just think that a cut in funding could affect flights flying in an out of Idaho Falls.”

The idea of closing local control towers is a possibility. The last section HR 4441 authorizes a pilot program for remote control tower operations. Meaning the control tower would only have cameras, sensors and computers. All human operations would actually be carried out at a larger more central control tower in a distant location.

No specific airport has been set for the trial run. The bill states that they will look for airports to volunteer and submit an application. The possibility comes if not enough airports apply, then the US Secretary of Transportation can choose.

The bill is not final. The senate must first pass its version of the proposal. That proposal is scheduled to come out sometime later this week.

A link HR 4441 can be found HERE.