Does the U.S. Government Copy? ALPA Reinforces Call for Long-Term FAA Funding

During remarks today on a key panel at the Air Traffic Control Association’s (ATCA) 59th Annual Conference and Exposition in Washington, D.C., ALPA president Capt. Lee Moak reinforced ALPA’s call for long-term sustained funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

ALPA’s president opened his comments by commending the FAA for their handling of the recent sabotage event at Chicago center. “Kudos to the FAA,” Moak said, noting that ALPA was thankful that no one was injured and that the Chicago event is a reminder of the need for our ATC system to not only be well protected, but also robust, redundant, and able to react swiftly and effectively to serious events in the national airspace.

ATCA, which was founded by a group of air traffic controllers, has more than 3,000 members including individual air traffic controllers. The panel, titled “FAA Restructuring: What’s the Problem? Are Corporatization and Privatization the Solutions?” was part of the association’s annual conference held this week.

“Funding, funding, funding,” continued Capt. Moak in discussing the FAA. “The real question you need to decide up front is the funding question.” ALPA’s president expressed optimism that recent discussions suggest that the industry is out in front of the issue of next year’s FAA reauthorization, but he warned against another short-term funding extension, saying of the 23 past extensions, “You can’t really run an organization like that.”

On Monday, Capt. Sean Cassidy, ALPA’s first vice president and national safety coordinator, participated on a panel titled “Mixed Equipage: Best Equipped, Best Serves vs. First Come, First Served.” He advanced the union’s support for NextGen, pointing out that the U.S. airline industry has already realized benefits from modernization, and that NextGen’s completion is vital to future capacity improvements as well as to the continued safety and efficiency of the national airspace.