A US aviation lobbying group has called on the government to provide more funding to address the country’s ageing air traffic control (ATC) infrastructure and grow the national airspace system.
Led by Airlines for America (A4A) and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the association of 26 aviation groups has written a letter to Congress asking for changes to the Aviation and Airways Trust Fund (AATF).
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The group claimed that allowing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to have better control of the fund would bring its Facilities and Equipment programme in line with other transportation funds and allow it to direct funding to address ATC underinvestment.
It highlighted the FAA’s decision to switch to a “fix-on-fail” maintenance model in FY2013 and a 2017 review of the authority’s Air Route Traffic Control Centres (ARTCC) which found only three of the 23 facilities were in “good condition”.
The letter said: “These and other FAA air traffic control facilities have exceeded their expected lifespan. Every ARTCC and more than a quarter of all FAA facilities are at least 50 years old, with many in need of replacement.
“The F&E budget is currently not large enough to support this, prompting the administration’s most recent request for $8 billion in mandatory spending for this important purpose.”
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By GlobalDataIn addition to the data on ageing infrastructure, the industry’s call for action also comes amid growing concern over the number of close calls in US airspace.
Last year, a New York Times investigation found that close call incidents were occurring “far more frequently” than previously realised, leading the FAA to put $121m into improving airport infrastructure, before approving another $243m in grants in 2024.
While the lobby group welcomed the steps taken to address some of the country’s airspace issues, it highlighted the fact that the AATF was expected to have surpluses in the next few years which could be used to address the country’s ATC issues.
The AATF is the primary source of funding for the FAA and is mainly sourced from taxes on the aviation industry, it must be re-authorised periodically and was most recently bolstered by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.
The group’s demands are just one factor in a complicated evaluation of the US’s ATC sector, with the FAA also recently looking to improve working conditions for the nation’s controllers by introducing a longer rest period between shifts of at least 10 hours.
In April, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker claimed the authority was “beginning to reverse the decades-long shortage” of ATC staff and was on track to meet its hiring goal of 1,800 controllers in 2024.
He said: “We’ve also expanded the training pipeline to maximize recruitment. Getting more qualified individuals into our air traffic facilities will help alleviate the demands on the current workforce.”
