Regulations and Government
Rinaldi: Shutdown Presents Funding Reform Opportunity
The uncommitted balance of aviation trust fund is over $6.5 billion and is on pace to be funded at $20 billion a year by 2020.

The 35-day shutdown of the U.S. government “cut us deep” but presents an opportunity for funding reform, said the head of the nation’s air traffic controllers union. Speaking to the Aero Club of Washington yesterday, National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) president Paul Rinaldi traced through some of the damage incurred during the shutdown, including the stress on the controllers who worked without pay, along with the cessation of training of new controllers, the halting of programs such as Datacomm implementation, and the stoppage of key safety reporting programs. In a macro sense, Rinaldi cited preliminary numbers that the shutdown cost $11 billion, $55 billion in lost economic growth, and $105 million to airlines alone. He added the government paid $90 million a day to have its workers stay home.


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