The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) announced Monday it publicly opposes plans from the White House to privatize America's air traffic control system.
"Dismantling the current system will devastate [general aviation] while not accomplishing the desired goals of efficiency and technological improvements," the EAA said in a press release.
A letter to President Trump opposing the “Principles for Reforming the U.S. Air Traffic Control System” was signed by EAA and 15 other general aviation organizations.
The letter says the groups have concerns about user fees, among other things, that are "based on our operating experiences in these foreign systems and impact they have had on general aviation."
The White House is suggesting removing air traffic operations from Federal Aviation Administration control and giving them to a non-profit entity that would be exempt from congressional oversight, according to the EAA's release.
“The White House principles make a gross misrepresentation that the air traffic control system is broken, but the facts don’t support the claim,” said Jack J. Pelton, EAA CEO/Chairman. “This proposal is a solution in search of a problem. EAA supports modernization of the American airspace system, and progress is happening with the input of all the system’s stakeholders. This new plan would do nothing to solve any current technology or efficiency issues, while undermining the world’s most extensive general aviation system and disrupting the world’s largest and safest air traffic control system. It is a bad idea, and EAA will continue to state that to those in aviation, Congress, and the public.”
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