While Airlines for America (A4A) continues to mull the defeat of an effort to take the air traffic control system out of the FAA, A4A president and CEO Nicholas Calio stressed a need to collaborate with all stakeholders to get a long-term FAA reauthorization passed. “A4A fully supported fundamental reform,” but Congress needed to be an integral partner, he said Wednesday during A4A’s 2018 Commercial Aviation Summit. “Under the rules of the game, we have to get the votes to win. We didn’t.”
ATC reorganization supporters can “rue that fact and complain, and we do because flights today take longer from point A and B…because we are operating on an antiquated system and a dilapidated procurement process and product development process inside the government,” he continued.
Having said that, though, he stressed that the organization also needs to look ahead toward ensuring passage of a long-term reauthorization bill. “With those ever-increasing passengers…all stakeholders need to work together to find a way forward,” he said. “While Congress did not pass ATC reform, we are hoping that it will pass—and it must pass—a long-term FAA reauthorization bill.”
This is critical for FAA to maintain and advance the safest, most efficient airspace system in the world, he said and added it also is important for A4A to meet demands of its customers. “There have been far too many extensions over the years,” he further said. “We simply can’t have stop-and-start funding, and Congress should act swiftly on this. We hope that it will.”
Calio's remarks came as House and Senate negotiators were trying to hash out differences in bills offered by the two chambers—even though the Senate had not yet passed its version. A couple of issues remained to be ironed out though, as the bills faced a September 30 deadline for the expiration of the FAA's current authorization, leading many to believe that another short-term extension was a strong possibility.
As for the future of the ATC system, Bradley Tilden, chairman and CEO of the Alaska Air Group, said he believes it is time for the industry to “take a break and regroup.” Participating on a panel during the A4A summit, Tilden acknowledged that ATC reorganization is not going to happen, at least right now, and said the industry should step back and look at “what is the best long-term solution. We should have the best system in the world.”
Tilden believes that the technology is out there to keep the system efficient but availability of capital and management are issues that still need to be resolved.
The A4A summit primarily focused on deregulation and the improvements that have resulted over the past 40 years. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, a keynote speaker at the summit, recognized the anniversary, calling deregulation a “seminal event” that “democratized air travel for consumers” and continues to have a ripple effect today. Chao noted that average airfares are 42 percent less today than in 1980 and said travel is soaring, estimating that 27,000 flights take off daily carrying 2.3 million passengers and 55,000 tons of cargo. The demand “is exploding” she said, estimated to double to $7.8 billion in the next 20 years.
She stressed the importance of maintaining an open-skies framework “that is the underpinning” of the international commercial travel and that the U.S. is continuing to work with the UK to ensure seamless travel in a post-Brexit environment. Chao further praised the dramatic improvements in safety, emphasizing that U.S. operators do not compete on safety, and the industry's shared approach is the foundation of consumer confidence.
She also noted the annual Airport Improvement Program grants awarded in infrastructure, reaching $3.18 billion this year. In addition, Congress awarded a supplemental $1 billion in airport funding earlier this year, and Chao announced the first tranche of nearly $586 million in airport funding awards.
The department is looking to the future, she added, monitoring advancements in unmanned technologies and operations, commercial space travel, and supersonic transports. The department is working to shape operating rules that can accommodate UAS, she said. Envisioning the possibilities of supersonic flight, she added that noise must be addressed to pave the way.
Pilotless aircraft was another topic that came up during Wednesday’s summit. When asked his thoughts, Doug Parker, chairman and CEO of American Airlines, said he couldn’t predict the future but stressed that “we love our pilots.” He added that pilots in the U.S. are the most professional and best trained in the globe and said the concept of pilotless aircraft is not one that American Airlines is pursuing.
