Privatization of US Air Traffic Control Systems

Ask any aircraft dispatcher and they’ll tell you that aviation in the US is a large, regulation-heavy industry that can be slow to change. One of the more outdated systems in the US aviation industry is the air traffic control system. However, it may be in line for an overhaul in terms of regulation and aircraft dispatcher jobs.

Major airlines are urging President Trump to allow for the privatization of the US air traffic control system. The shift would take control away from the FAA (which has run the system since 1958) and allow a private company, or companies, to create a better alternative. What does this have to do with aircraft dispatchers, and how will it affect aircraft dispatcher jobs?

A change of this magnitude will ultimately affect the entire aviation industry as a whole, and although aircraft dispatchers may not feel the difference immediately, it will certainly ripple outwards.

Possible changes for aircraft dispatchers:

  • Change in overall communication between aircraft dispatchers, air traffic controllers and pilots.
  • It may set a precedent for the privatization of other systems; thus, changing systems that aircraft dispatchers use every day.
  • It may change regulation in the future, which would affect aircraft dispatch schools and the way that aircraft dispatcher jobs are carried out daily.

President Trump has been enacting major, seeping changes in regulations in the first weeks of his appointment. The “Big Three” (American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines) are meeting with the president this month to discuss ways to get Americans to fly major airlines overseas instead of foreign carriers.

It’s unknown whether the privatization of the air traffic controller system was mentioned, though it would not be a stretch to think it was.

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