House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Holds Day-Long Markup Hearing on Chairman Shuster’s AIRR Act (H.R. 2997)
Wednesday, June 28, 2017(National Federation of Federal Employees)
House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA), who introduced the dangerous and profiteering AIRR Act (H.R. 2997).
House
Republicans pushed through committee, in a
32-25 vote, a six-year
reauthorization of the Federal Aviation
Administration that includes a plan to hand
over the operations and regulation of the
nation’s air traffic control system
to private corporation. Transportation and
Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster
(R-PA), and author of the dangerous and
profiteering AIRR Act (H.R. 2997), hopes
the bill gets to the House floor next month.
However, it is likely that the
bill will face opposition from other House
Republicans.
Although
the privatization plan is supported by
President Trump, Republicans in the
Senate have also voiced opposition to the idea,
and have discussed a bill (S.
1405) introduced last week which doesn't
include the spinoff proposal. In fact,
some Republicans Senators have said the spinoff
provision is simply
unacceptable.
On
Tuesday, the markup hearing for Shuster’s
bill drew 86 amendments and lasted
more than nine hours. Of the 18 roll call
votes, all but one were on Democratic
amendments. Ranking Member Peter A. DeFazio
(D-OR) repeatedly portrayed what he
called negative repercussions of the spinoff as
he made the case for
amendments. That included the likelihood that
the private organization's board eliminating
the ticket tax, which airlines dislike, while
making up for the lost revenue by
instead implementing a tax levied on
passengers.
Earlier
in the day, Republicans rejected, 24-34, an
amendment that would erase the
section of Shuster’s bill that would
privatize air traffic control operations
in FY 2021. The DeFazio amendment would have
substituted a Democrat-backed bill
(H.R. 2800) that would keep air traffic control
operations under the federal
government while making the FAA’s budget
independent of the appropriations
process.
Under
a private corporation—one controlled by the
major airlines—air traffic
efficiency and safety risks will grow as the
major airlines will place more
planes in the air in the pursuit of profit. If
the AIRR Act passes, the federal
workforce that now oversees the air traffic
control system will become private
sector employees under the control of the
airlines. There is little doubt that
this move will result in reduced pay, cuts to
training programs, and lower
safety standards. Although this private
corporation will tout the saving of tax
dollars, airlines will pass along any costs to
flying passengers who will
decide fees per ticket without the oversight or
consent of Congress as
currently
required.
NFFE
National President Randy Erwin has consistently
voiced his opposition to
privatization.
“The
United States has the safest, largest, and most
complex aviation system in the
world and that system should continue to be
operated solely for the public’s
benefit and safety, not for the benefit of
wealthy airline CEOs that will
operate the privatized system,” stated Randy
Erwin, NFFE National President.
“This legislation is offensive to every
American because it will trade safety
for airline profits. There is no other reason
to privatize the air traffic
control system.” Erwin continues,
“NFFE
is working hard with its union coalition
partners and with like-minded industry
partners to stop this dangerous and
profiteering legislation that destroys air
travel safety and airline
competitiveness.”
The current aviation authorization deal expires on Sept. 30. Until a new authorization bill is passed, NFFE will continue to fight the dangerous and profiteering AIRR Act (H.R. 2997), and the privatization of America’s air traffic control system.
Read the union coalition’s letter to the Committee, here.
Read NFFE’s FAA privatization position paper, here.