FAA Reform, opinion piece in Aviation Week & Space Technology, April 16, 2015

1. 4/21/2015 Opinion: The Time Is Now For Aviation Policy Reform
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Opinion: The Time Is Now For Aviation Policy Reform
Aviation Week & Space Technology Apr 16, 2015 , p. 78
Stephen D. Van Beek, Ph.D.
Stephen D. Van Beek, Ph.D. is vice president of ICF International and a former member of the FAA Management Advisory
Council.
For the first time in at least 25 years, a policy reform breeze is blowing in Washington. Attend any major aviation meeting, such
as the recent Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit, and you will hear political and aviation leaders express support for
changing the way we organize, fund and deliver the services and infrastructure so vital to our aviation system.
Support is emerging for using this year’s FAA reauthorization to address two pressing needs. First, where possible, remove the
FAA’s services from the federal budget process, where they are vulnerable to interruption. Second, modernize the provision of
air traffic control and other services by separating them from the FAA, allowing the agency to focus on its key regulatory mission.
Passage of an FAA reform effort would be the most sweeping and significant aviation policy reforms since 1978—when the
Airline Deregulation Act became law.
Leading the charge is House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R­Penn.), who declares that
he will try for “bold and transformational reform.” He has urged stakeholders—including airlines, airports, general aviation and
labor—to put their parochial, and sometimes petty, disagreements aside in favor of the interests they have in common. Now that

2. 4/21/2015 Opinion: The Time Is Now For Aviation Policy Reform
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Credit: joepriesaviation.net
he has begun deliberations on the bill, aviation interests appear to be listening.
Why? Stakeholders are frustrated with unmet promises for the air traffic control
system, an outmoded and unfair tax system that does little to incentivize efficient
use of scarce resources and airport infrastructure shortfalls. Most of all is the
shared experience of living through a series of embarrassing budgetary train
wrecks, including sequestration, debt­limit fights, 23 short­term extensions of
authorization and lapsed appropriations.
Over the past several years, each of these at one time or another forced the FAA
to triage its operations and infrastructure investments, causing dislocations to
travelers as well as the FAA, airlines, airports and the employees who work for
them. For many, the biggest priority is to avoid a second round of sequestration
in fiscal 2016, which begins Oct. 1. Many remember the damage caused by the
first round, including controller furloughs, closure of the FAA academy,
suspension of airport safety and capacity projects and delays in certifying new
aircraft, parts and procedures.
Working behind the scenes over the past four years, two separate FAA
Management Advisory Councils (MAC) have put together a set of consensus­
based reform principles that would address FAA financial stability and improve
air traffic control. As MACs first deliberated and then released their principles,
groups such as the Business Roundtable and the Eno Transportation
Foundation offered their own proposals vetted with significant segments of the
industry. Chairman Shuster and committee members have a good base from
which to work.
These efforts share three key ideas:
•Insulate the FAA and aviation services. Remove major FAA programs from the federal budget. Where possible, shift air traffic
services, the funding of airport infrastructure and certification to cost­recovery, user­pay systems. Make sure safety, research and
the needs of smaller community airports—where it is challenging to recover costs—have stable and sustainable funding
mechanisms.
•Change the ATC governance model: The U.S. is virtually alone in operating its air traffic system through a bureaucratic agency
funded by ticket taxes and taxpayers. Other nations and the International Civil Aviation Organization recognize that national
regulatory agencies should focus on the provision of public goods such as regulation and safety, not delivering user services.
These systems typically separate the air traffic provider from the regulator, protecting the interests of the public while enabling
the efficiencies and access to capital of a commercialized provider. They also use governing boards made up of customers and
aviation professionals that set goals, develop business strategies and hold their leadership accountable for performance.
•Shift to cost­recovery and eliminate ticket taxes: Taxes collected today are a hodgepodge series of charges unrelated to the
costs of providing services. The per­passenger return from taxes is declining as ticketing practices have reduced the revenues
that support FAA services. Far better, where possible, is to shift to a system under which air traffic, airport and certification
services are paid directly as “business to business” transactions that flow to the balance sheet of users, protecting services and
encouraging efficient use (alternatives are available for users who would like to pay through other methods).
Historic reform is always hard. However, enough unmet needs, broken promises and policy failures have convinced a core
group of farsighted leaders and stakeholders that our system deserves better. Now is the time.
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