FAA Funding Debate
AOPA FAA Funding Debate
The airlines' arguments
FICTION: Private business (the airlines) can do a better job overseeing the air traffic control (ATC) system than Congress can.
FACT: Under Congress' leadership, the U.S. ATC system has developed into the safest, most efficient in the world, while in recent years the airlines have demonstrated that they can't run their own businesses.
- Every major airline (except Southwest) has undergone some kind of bankruptcy proceeding.
- Some of the major airlines have defaulted on their pension plans, forcing U.S. taxpayers to pick up retirement benefits that the airlines promised their employees.
- The airlines asked for—and got—a bailout from taxpayers following the short-term downturn in business after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
