Every decade or so, sometimes more often, someone or some organization proposes “privatizing” the U.S. air traffic control system. In 1985 it was the Air Transport Association (ATA), now renamed Airlines for America, which released a study calling for a self-supporting federal ATC corporation. But there was no support in Congress, and the general aviation community feared it would lead to unaffordable user fees.
The first time I crossed paths with the concept was early in my time in Washington, when the relatively new Clinton Administration suggested taking ATC out of the FAA and putting it into a U.S. Air Traffic Services (USATS) corporation. Rep. Norm Mineta (D-Calif.), who later became a secretary of transportation, introduced the enabling legislation. This time, supporters included ATA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (Natca). But GA groups once again opposed it, and the chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), kept the bill bottled up in committee, where it died.
