Global Airlines: Is it a fair playing field ?

     The US-UAE Open skies agreement grants each party the right to fly over their territory without landing, the right to make stops in their territory for non-traffic purposes and other rights specified in the agreement. This agreement was designed to promote international aviation and eliminate government involvement. It aims to create a freer environment for the international commercial aviation industry. Delta and United are two American long haul carriers that had received $42 billion in what's reportedly "unfair" government subsidies in 2015 according th the business insider.
    In a report from "View from the wing" US airlines have received more subsidies than middle east carriers. In 1999 the congressional research service put out a paper detailing government subsidies for US airlines. Between 1918 and 1998 the government spent $150 billion in support of aviation. Also in the 40's and 50's subsidies to US airlines were a huge political issue for the railroads.

REFERENCES

Leff, Gary. US Airlines Have Received More Subsidies Than Middle East Ones. April 8, 2015. https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/04/08/us-airlines-have-received-more-subsidies-than-middle-east-ones/
Congressional Research Service. Report RL30050. Aviation Direct Spending, 1918 - 1998. February 3, 1999. https://file.wikileaks.org/file/crs/RL30050.pdf

   
   

Final Blog :

     I've selected a weird one to write about again. I chose this because I might not have been very fair on the party I kind of spoke against, so I'm hitting it from a different perspective this time around. I've decided to blog about who should be the next FAA administrator.
     As you know President Trump has tipped John Dunkin, his personal long time pilot for the FAA Administrator position. A position that puts him in charge of the $16 billion budget according to reports all over the news. There isn't a lot or anything about his resume online but John Dunkin has worked for Donald Trump since 1989 when Trump owned his own airline. Dunkin's role took off in 2016 during the presidential campaign when he coordinated and led the aviation-related side of Trump's campaign for travel to 203 cities in 43 states over the course of 21 months, coordinating aircraft movement, among other duties, while serving as captain for the Boeing 757 jet. He's also managed airlines and corporate flight departments, certified airlines from start-up under FAA  regulations. Other candidates however include acting FAA administrator Daniel .K. Elwell, who is fillinlg in after Huerta's departure. Elwell is a former pilot and has served in various roles at the FAA for years. Previously served as Deputy Administrator of the FAA, Assistant administrator for policy, planning and environment, most recently senior advisor on aviation to U.S secretary of transportation. From 2013-2015 he was senior vice president for safety, security and operations at Airlines for America, prior to that he was vice president of the aerospace industries association from 2008-2013. He was also a commercial pilot for 16 years with American Airlines while serving as managing director for international and government affairs at American airlines. Republican representative Sam Graves, who sits on the aviation subcommittee of the house committee on transportation and infrastructure is also reportedly a candidate. 
     A quick look at past FAA administrators, firstly we look at Langhorne M. Bond. Born in Shanghai in 1937, earned an A.B and law degree at the university on Virginia. He went on to study at the institute of air and space law at McGill University, London school of economics and Oxford University. Bond was a member of the task force that developed the legislation establishing the U.S Department of Transportation, and then served one-year stints as special assistant to the first DOT secretary, Alan S. Boyd and as assistant administrator of public affairs in the DOT's Urban Mass Transportation Administration. He left federal service in 1969 to become Executive Director of the National Transportation Center, a non profit research organization in Pittsburgh that managed bus technology projects for transit authorities. In March 1973, he became Secretary of Transportation for the State of Illinois. Like John Dunkin and the next ex administrator we'll check out, he has no military history or background. I believe he's the first FAA Administrator that served without a military background or history. David R. Hinson, a native of Oklahoma earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington. He served as a naval aviator and as a pilot for Northwestern Airlines. In 1961 he became a flight instructor for United Airlines. He later became captain and director for flight training for West coast airlines, eventually becoming the director of flight standards and engineering for West coast's successor, Air west. In 1973, he founded Hinson-Mennella  Inc., a partnership whose acquisitions included Flightcraft Inc., the beech aircraft distributor in the pacific northwest. He was one of four founder of midway airlines in 1978 and served as chairman and chief executive officer from 1985 until the airline ceased operations in 1991. When selected to run the FAA, he was executive vice president of marketing and business development with Douglas airlines, a subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas. Like John Dunkin, he was in charge of an ailine that closed up. I picked these two because I think they have similarities with President Donald Trump's candidate for the position.
     As the FAA administrator, John Dunkin, if he gets it, will be responsible for the safety and efficiency of this very large aerospace system. Who better than a pilot that's been a part of that aerospace system. I think John Dunkin can be a good administrator. He's loyal and shows longevity, he's worked for Donald Trump for 29 years now. He's has experience flying the man all over the world. He's navigated his way through a very busy campaign period with no hiccups. I believe he's a good shout for FAA administrator and I'm sure he'll get a lot of support.

REFERENCES

Davis, Parker. Trump's Personal Pilot on Short List for new FAA Head. February 28, 2018.

Lanktree, Graham. Who is John Dunkin? Trump wants his personal Pilot to head the FAA. February 26, 2018.

https://www.faa.gov/about/history/media/AOA_bios.pdf

https://www.faa.gov/about/key_officials/elwell/        

     

ATC Privatization

     The task of ensuring safe operations of commercial and private aircraft falls on Air Traffic Controllers (ATC). They must coordinate the movements of thousands of aircraft, keep them at safe distances from each other, direct them during takeoff and landing from airports, direct them around bad weather, and ensure that traffic flows smoothly with minimal delays. The ATC systems like Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC), Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC), Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT), and Flight Service Station (FSS) help controllers achieve their ultimate goal - To clear traffic and provide whatever information and assistance the pilot requests. The proposed NextGen is not one technology, product or goal. According to the FAA, the term NextGen encompasses dozens of innovative new technologies that's being developed and implemented after thorough testing for safety. Through the FAA's modernization efforts, they're creating new interconnected systems that fundamentally change and improve how the National Airspace System (NAS) users see, navigate and communicate. NextGen provides ATC with the exact location of aircraft and a clear vision of surrounding conditions. The FAA has switched to a satellite enabled navigation system that is more precise than traditional ground based navigation aids. Using these satellites enables the FAA to create optimum routes anywhere in the NAS through all phases of flight. And finally in the modernized NAS, aircraft must be able to receive dynamic, complex instructions from ground systems. Our new digital communications system helps pilots and ATC to communicate more quickly, more easily, and with less risk of miscommunication than radio messages over busy frequencies.
     I think one of the main reasons General Aviation (GA) has traditionally spoken against ATC privatization is because of the interests of the people behind it. The AOPA (Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association) and NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) are a couple of aviation associations against the privatization of ATC and they've launched media campaigns to counter what they call "gross misrepresentations" by the airline-backed groups supporting it. "Air traffic control privatization is the biggest threat to the future of our industry that we've ever seen" said Ed Bolen, president of the NBAA, during a panel discussion among GA leaders on Oct 10, 2017 at the NBAA convention in Vegas. House bill 2997 would transfer ATC and it's billions of dollars in assets from the FAA to a 13-member board controlled by airline interests. As far as I can tell from my research, privatization of air traffic controls has been heavily precluded in the EU (European Union). Even in Russia, the authorities have  strong control over their aviation nationwide. But in Canada the case is different. In 1996, the government of Canada was faced with a large and continuing deficit, it was looking for a way to rid itself of things that cost money like the Air traffic control system. Then Nav Canada, a privately run, non-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system, assumed control of the ATC system from Transport Canada. According to an article written in January of 2012 by Robert P Mark for AINonline on AINonline .com, transitioning to a privately run ATC has so far been eneficial in terms of  fee structure and they put safety first, not business.
     The bill to privatize ATV will have to go through the house and congress. At this point congress still faces the decision to privatize ATC or not. The chairman of the house transportation committee Rep. Bill Shuster's bill to spin off ATC operations which has been endorsed by President Donald Trump advanced out of the committee. Members of congress from both chambers and parties remain unconvinced.
     Lastly, do I feel the current ATC system would be more effective if it was privatized ? I really don't know. There are ways of turning it over to private owners and making it run smoothly, possibly even better but why try to change something that doesn't need fixing. I think the airlines and maybe even the controllers will benefit from privatization but I don't if that'll be at the detriment of the general public. And that's who we need to think about.

References

Gunter, Chase. Air traffic control reform hits turbulence in Congress. Nov, 01. 2017.

Hirschman, Dave. GA GROUPS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN AGAINST ATC PRIVATIZATION. October, 10. 2017.

Mark .p. Robert. Canada's Private ATC System Offers Alternative for Cost-cutting Nations. January, 01. 2012.