Air traffic, a government mess, we pay
Thirty years after deregulation, the government is gumming up the works. Now, it is a real crisis. Everything for which they are responsible is crumbling or working poorly with no solution in sight.
Areas of the airline industry where deregulation has taken root are performing fine. It is the parts of the system that are still subjected government regulation and operation that are failing the American public.
In areas where there is a consensus (even from libertarians) that government should bear the responsibility such as air traffic control and international treaty negotiations, the U.S. government has been woefully lacking. Too many committees debating too much minutia trying to create too many regulations where fluidity is needed have succeeded in no progress over the past years.
FAA funding changes seem far away.
Air traffic system improvements are still years away, even if we start tomorrow.
Air traffic controller ranks are shrinking with increased retirement rates and the pipeline for new controllers can’t keep up with demand based on previous training schedules.
The public’s twin complaints of delayed flights and too much airport noise conflict at every airport making the construction of any needed runways almost impossible.
The reimbursement amounts for lost luggage are raised and the airlines lose more luggage.
Bumping penalties are increased and the airlines bump even more passengers.
In areas where, perhaps, a hands-off approach would have been preferable, such as with sweeping Chapter 11 protections for airlines that should have been allowed to die, the government meddling has ultimately failed. These bankruptcies that kept airlines on life support wiped out stockholder and bondholder equity, drove down wages, and broke negotiated municipal and commercial leases. They only enriched executives and lawyers. And, after all the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, the airlines still lose money by the bucketful.
With 50,000 government workers having their fingers in the air traffic pie and a budget of $15 billion, one would think our federal organizations would function better. Unfortunately, we are facing a crisis created by those who are supposed to protect us.
I’m hearing rumblings of re-regulation of the airlines. Let us be careful for what wish. As Saint Theresa once said, “There are more tears shed over answered prayers, than unanswered ones.”
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