Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

As the White House looks to cut and reform government, the U.S. aviation industry has coalesced around a desire to protect and update the National Airspace System (NAS) rather than gearing up for another potential battle over privatization.
Nearly three dozen organizations across the aviation industry sent a letter yesterday to Capitol Hill leaders calling for investments that enhance safety both on the ground and in the air. The groups outlined a National Airspace Safety Initiative, providing steps they collectively believe should remain a high priority for lawmakers, such as ensuring “robust emergency funding for critical air traffic control technology and infrastructure and controller staffing and training.”
Notably, despite the array of signatories—from representatives of airlines to airports, pilots, and the business and general aviation community, among others—the letter sent yesterday also stated: “We are aligned on not pursuing privatization of U.S. air traffic control services and believe it would be a distraction from these needed investments.”
This marks a dramatic turn with industry associations that were not even a decade ago locked in a strong battle against each other over the issue. But the letter comes as the White House has been looking at each agency on where it could cut costs and workforce and as Washington think tanks and others raise the specter of privatization as part of that overarching effort. It also comes against the backdrop of a series of high-profile crashes that have led U.S. aviation into its deadliest period since the mid-2000s.
<h2>Concern Over Recent Accidents</h2>
“We are united in our grief over recent aviation accidents and our commitment to making sure that accidents like these never happen again,” the organizations wrote, reiterating they want to work with Congress and the Administration in a unified fashion to find common ground to ensure a safe and efficient National Airspace System.
Most of those organizations had stressed that sentiment in an earlier letter, but the latest correspondence outlined their priorities toward accomplishing that.&nbsp; In addition to emergency funding, they asked lawmakers to provide direction to the FAA to make prudent divestments from legacy NAS systems and use innovative procurement procedures to adopt new technologies. They also are seeking realignment and modernization of air traffic control facilities and systems, additional financial mechanisms to better use aviation trust fund balances, and an exemption for the FAA from government shutdowns to ensure predictable funding.
“Addressing these areas will reduce costs, inefficiencies, and strengthen American competitiveness and will also ensure the FAA continues to uphold the highest standards of safety for all who use our nation’s airspace.”
An accompanying white paper delves into concerns about a lack of sufficient progress in scaling up the controller workforce and the need to expand capacity at the Oklahoma training facility, as well as through the Air Traffic Enhanced Collegiate Training Initiative.
In addition, the paper outlines concerns that there are sustainability and maintenance-related issues at “virtually all FAA locations” that need improvements. In addition, the nearly 300 air traffic control facilities on average are between 30 and 60 years old.
Also, the FAA is primarily funded by the aviation tax-supported Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF), but the agency only receives those funds through congressional appropriations, it points out. However, the trust fund’s uncommitted balances are estimated to balloon from $6 billion at the end of fiscal 2025 to $17.5 billion by 2034.&nbsp;
“The FAA must be allowed to fully utilize the existing funds within the AATF to meet current obligations under the FAA recently passed FAA reauthorization law and execute long-term focused investment to modernize the national air space,” according to the white paper, which also stresses the harm that comes from government shutdowns and the need for the agency to be shielded from it.

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News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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