Duckworth takes stand against privatizing air traffic control

Posted on July 2, 2017
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is opposed to President Trump’s proposal to privatize air traffic control. (WJBC File Photo)

By RFD Radio/WFMB

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said the nation’s air traffic control system should remain a public enterprise.

Duckworth expressed her opposition to President Donald Trump’s proposed privatizing of air traffic control towers while questioning Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

“We’re not Canada, we’re not Great Britain,” Duckworth said. “The FAA successfully manages the busiest and most complex air space in the world. It’s not even in the same ballpark.”

Duckworth said moving governance of air traffic control from the FAA to a private corporation would increase the nation’s budget deficit by $46 billion over the next decade.

“Despite the great challenge, the FAA has made America’s air traffic control system the safest in the world,” Duckworth said. “It’s certainty safer than any of the examples championed by advocates of transportation.”

Canada and Great Britain are among the dozens of nations that have at least partially privatized their air-traffic control systems.

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