Aviation Policy News: Transportation Secretary Duffy’s plan will not produce a ‘new air traffic control system’

In this issue:

• Duffy’s plan will not produce a “a new ATC system”
• Advancing remote towers in the United States
• How small-airport subsidies harm other airports
• Could privatization fix Honolulu’s broken airport?
• Will the FAA administrator nominee be defeated by misinformation?
• News Notes
• Quotable Quotes

Duffy Plan Will Not Produce a “New Air Traffic Control System”

I have a number of concerns about the ambitious air traffic proposal unveiled on May 8 by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. It’s a worthwhile attempt to fix some of the system’s very real problems, but it will not produce “a brand new air traffic control system,” as the eight-page description is titled.

Nearly everything in the air traffic control plan is additions of existing technology, much of which is already in the procurement process but would now be expanded in quantity (e.g., electronic flight strips in 89 air traffic control towers rather than only 49 towers). And the idea of implementing everything in the eight-page plan within three (or maybe four) years is not realistic.

To begin with, all these systems would have to be procured via the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) dysfunctional procurement system, which has trouble defining the “requirements” for a new system in three or four years, as Gary Leff pointed out in his View from the Wing column on May 10, quoting FAA expert Gary Church.

FAA and its contractors have no experience with fully funding a new system all at once, as opposed to using its limited annual facilities and equipment budget to purchase a handful each year for 15 years (referred to as a “waterfall”). There’s a risk of the FAA being taken to the cleaners by opportunistic contractors dealing with a suddenly rich bureaucracy.

Unless, of course, the Department of Transportation and FAA elected to follow President Donald Trump’s proposal, during Duffy’s announcement. “We’d like to give out one big, beautiful contract,” having that one aerospace company do everything from “digging ditches” to “the most sophisticated stuff,” Trump said.

If the past is any guide, such a contract would likely be cost-plus, like those contracts given by NASA to Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Northrop Grumman, and others for the $90 billion (so far) Space Launch System program, which is years late and hugely over budget. And who would be capable of overseeing such a program for air traffic control?

Aviation experts have begun to raise caution flags. Jeff Guzzetti, formerly with both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), told Politico that the proposal is “thin on specifics” and that he doubted it could be done within the very short time frame in Duffy’s plan.

Former FAA Deputy Administrator Katie Thomson questioned the unspecified budget and the aggressive time frame for “realistically doing this.” As more specifics are unveiled, I expect more such questions and concerns.

Then there’s the question of who would pay for a $30 billion or larger crash program. U.S. commercial aviation has long been essentially self-supporting via federal aviation user taxes. That’s an important defense when, for example, advocates of high-speed rail argue for huge federal subsidies. But now, a coalition of 55 aviation organizations wants to undermine user-pay for an unprecedented amount of borrowed money, increasing the already out-of-control national debt.

As it turns out, the Aviation Trust Fund has an uncommitted balance (from user-tax revenue) of $4.8 billion, which is projected to increase to $12.4 billion by 2035. The most urgent needs in Duffy’s plan could be paid for out of that, thereby keeping intact aviation’s self-supporting status.

Most of the incremental improvements in the plan—adding more control towers to the 49 now scheduled for electronic flight strips, adding new surface surveillance tools to 200 airports, finishing the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI)—are of this nature.

Perhaps the most dubious proposal in the plan is to replace some of the ancient high-altitude control centers (ARTCCs) with six consolidated new ones (as proposed many times but always dead-on-arrival in Congress, because members don’t want to lose “their” ARTCC). Consolidation makes sense, in principle. But even devising an initial consolidation plan and getting it approved is unlikely to happen in three or four years, and congressional approval is a pipe dream as long as Congress controls the air traffic control (ATC) budget.

Also in the plan is language (but no details) about replacing “many” aging control towers, apparently one-for-one. There is no mention in the plan of remote/digital tower technology and the proven ability of one remote tower center to manage a dozen or more smaller towers. Nor is there any mention of space-based ADS-B surveillance in airspace where radar coverage cannot exist (e.g. oceanic.) This has revolutionized speed, safety, and fuel burn on the North Atlantic routes managed by NATS (UK) and Nav Canada. But the FAA has rejected its use in the Caribbean and has never even considered it for the vast amount of Pacific oceanic airspace for which it is responsible. (The plan makes mention of new ADS-B ground systems in the Caribbean, which is better than nothing.)

In short, the Trump administration is not proposing “a brand new air traffic control system.” It’s an effort to patch up the existing system using mostly components already in the air traffic control system. The most urgent items could be funded out of the current and projected balance in the Trust Fund, thereby keeping commercial aviation in the traditional users-pay/users-benefit system.

For additional context on Duffy’s plan and fixing the nation’s air traffic system, please see my recent Wall Street Journal column, which details the need to modernize our entire model: “The reason many other countries’ ATC systems work far better than ours is that their business models have changed, from a tax-funded bureaucracy embedded in a transportation ministry into a public utility funded by customer user fees.”

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Advancing Remote Towers in the United States
By Ginger Evans and Marc Scribner

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s calls for an air traffic control overhaul earlier this month highlighted many areas where the FAA is increasingly falling behind the rest of the world on technology. Duffy’s attention is very welcome, but one surprising omission from his initial plan was any mention of remote/digital control towers.

This technology is increasingly mainstream outside the United States and offers substantial visibility, productivity, and cost benefits over conventional brick-and-mortar towers. Reason Foundation has just released our new report, Advancing Remote Tower Deployment in the United States, which makes the case for bringing this technology to this country.

Remote/digital towers are being deployed in increasing numbers around the world. Instead of a tall concrete building with a control cab on top to provide controllers with out-the-window views of aircraft movements, a steel mast is erected and mounted with an array of cameras and other communications equipment. Those digital sensors feed information to a ground-level building housing the control room, often remote from the airfield. Instead of looking out a window, controllers have panoramic video displays of the airfield and its environs, including identifying individual aircraft with on-screen tags.

The concept for remote/digital towers was originally developed two decades ago by the FAA. In 2007, FAA conducted simulations of its “staffed virtual tower” at its Atlantic City Tech Center. The results published in 2008 found that the technology could provide better surveillance at all hours, but especially at night and in low-visibility weather conditions when instrument flight rules are required.

Compared to traditional out-the-window practices, controllers who worked the simulated staffed virtual tower required fewer radio communications with aircraft to maintain situational awareness. The participating controllers preferred the virtual tower video displays, with the FAA concluding the concept offered “clear advantages” in night conditions. A 2013 study from the FAA’s Human Factors Branch on “Staffed NextGen Towers” reached similar conclusions.

Despite the success of these tests, the FAA has done little to advance remote/digital towers, and no project has been commissioned in the United States. In contrast, numerous countries around the world are adopting this superior technology. The world’s first remote tower entered service in Sweden in 2015, which today has eight airports controlled remotely. Norway now has 14 such airports, with plans to add seven more by 2027. Germany, Estonia, Italy, Romania, and the United Kingdom also have operational remote towers, and Thailand recently announced planned installations at multiple airports.

The capital costs of individual remote towers are a fraction of the costs of a conventional concrete tower—a few million dollars compared to tens of millions of dollars experienced by recent FAA tower projects. While the situational awareness benefits and construction cost savings of remote/digital towers accrue immediately at installation airports, the benefits of the technology are fully realized when multiple airports’ remote towers are centrally managed from a combined remote tower center. When operations are centralized within remote tower centers, staffing efficiency can be improved by 30%.

These operating efficiency improvements are realized through several pathways. First, remote tower centers only need one manager per shift, instead of one per airport. Second, controller coverage can be optimized to avoid disruptions caused by relief time, sick leave, and other factors that influence controller availability. Third, training is conducted on simulators collocated at remote tower centers, avoiding the need for training-related travel. And finally, minimum controller redundancy requirements—such as two controllers for night operations—are more easily achieved.

Sweden is currently managing its eight remote towers from two remote tower centers, which control four airports each. Norway manages all 14 of its remote towered airports from a single remote tower center, with that number expected to increase to 21 airports in two years. Italy is in the process of converting two of its existing control facilities to remote tower centers, which will collectively manage 26 airports by 2033.

Despite growing international interest in remote/digital towers, the FAA has been unenthusiastic. In 2023, a Virginia remote tower project was canceled after nine years, with the vendor withdrawing after it “determined there was no reasonable path for approval” under the FAA’s constantly shifting certification requirements. Another vendor at a project in Colorado pulled out that same year for similar reasons, although the Colorado Department of Transportation and airport sponsor continued work with a new vendor team, albeit without the support of the FAA.

Congress has noticed the FAA’s inability to advance remote/digital towers in the United States. The 2024 FAA reauthorization law included provisions aimed at spurring needed FAA action. Unfortunately, the FAA has not yet made meaningful progress toward meeting these statutory mandates.

To advance remote/digital towers in the United States, we recommend that policymakers should direct the FAA to focus on:

• Developing a new remote tower center to manage multiple small airports;
• Testing and certification of multiple technology vendors;
• Conducting field pilots, including system design approval, at sponsor airports as contemplated in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024; and
• Reviewing European Union standards for (partial) applicability in the United States.

Secretary Duffy should be commended for boldly addressing the problems with the core infrastructure that supports the National Airspace System. However, even with robust funding, this plan is unlikely to address the dozens of towers at which the FAA is unable to provide expected air traffic services. Besides the urgent need to enter the digital age, remote/digital tower technology should be used to fully leverage any new capital funding on air traffic control. A logical starting point is with small airports in reasonable proximity to each other, which could combine their understaffed workforces in remote tower centers to improve service provision and working conditions.

Going forward, Secretary Duffy and Congress should continue their encouragement and oversight of FAA. Their ongoing attention on FAA’s air traffic control modernization efforts should be sustained, with a particular focus on the near-term benefits that could be realized from proven remote tower technology.

—Ginger Evans is president of Tower Consulting LLC and supports airport needs in development, digitalization, and decarbonization. Ms. Evans is a former member of the FAA NextGen Advisory Committee and the Transportation Research Board’s Executive Committee and was awarded the ACC Aviation Award in Excellence in 2023. Marc Scribner is a senior transportation policy analyst at Reason Foundation.

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How Small-Airport Subsidies Harm Other Airports

I was surprised to learn last month that the White House budget outline (referred to as the “skinny budget”) called for cutbacks to federal funding for the Essential Air Service (EAS) program. Surprised but not dismayed, as you will see.

Congress enacted EAS 50 years ago in the wake of the Airline Deregulation Act. It was to be a 10-year program to help small airports transition to the end of government-enforced airline cartels with no price competition. As expected, airline deregulation shook up a pampered airline industry, leading to the demise of Braniff, Eastern, National, Pan American, and several others that could not cope with open entry and market pricing. What emerged was robust competition and significantly lower air fares, with airline deregulation aptly characterized as the democratization of air travel.

Congress had other ideas. Once EAS was established, it had a constituency of small cities and counties in Alaska and many other rural and low-population states, along with the Regional Airline Association (RAA). Now, at EAS’s 50th anniversary, a rethinking is overdue.

To the rescue is a January 2025 report by William Swelbar of Swelbar-Zhong Consultancy: “The Economics that Have Shaped the Evolution of Connecting Smaller Markets to the U.S. Air Transportation System.” Swelbar’s data show that subsidies for some (smaller) airports damage the economics of slightly larger, unsubsidized airports that in many cases are within driving distance of the EAS airports. Given this unintended consequence, Swelbar suggests rethinking which airports get EAS subsidies.

Part of the analysis points out that airline deregulation and EAS legislation were enacted prior to the completion of the Interstate Highway System, which has reduced travel times for many trips in EAS states. The report zeroes in on EAS subsidies to airports located less than 120 miles from a large, medium, or small hub airport. There are 64 EAS airports in this group; 53 of them have air service destined for a network carrier connecting hub. The average driving miles to the closest hub airport is 81 miles at an average drive time of one hour and 42 minutes. The average subsidy for the EAS service at these airports is $136.49 per passenger.

A graphic in the report contrasts 107 EAS airports in the lower 48 states with 160 nonhub airports in the lower 48. The caption explains that, “The government has created a zero-sum air service game where the stronger markets are not able to maximize their economic generation facilitated by air service.” In other words, those nonhub (nonsubsidized) airports could likely attract more service,” if not for subsidies to the EAS airports.

One telling example of a non-EAS airport that could attract more service is Duluth, MN (DLH). There are six other airports within a 180-mile radius of DLH, including large hub Minneapolis/St Paul. The five EAS airports are between 48 and 137 miles from DLH, but DLH loses some business due to the subsidies to the other five.

Will this analysis change minds? Perhaps it has already influenced the Trump administration’s skinny budget call for scaling back EAS subsidies. Swelbar’s analysis has introduced a new economic factor into the debate, supporting the idea of reducing the scope of EAS in the interest of letting the market (and our Interstate highways) improve rural travel. 

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Could Privatization Fix Honolulu’s Broken Airport?

It’s been about a decade since I was last in Honolulu, and I recall its airport as laid-back and old-fashioned. But I was shocked to read a lengthy article in Beat of Hawaii (April 24) headlined, “Hawaii Promised a World-Class Airport. Visitors Got This Instead.” The article complains about full parking garages, limited food and amenities, airlines spread over multiple terminals with slow access between them, and poor disabled access. A major complaint is that many future improvements have been announced, but they have been very slow to materialize.

The article also explains that the airport is not run as a business. Rather, it is part of the Hawaii Department of Transportation. The article contends that “direct state control…means more bureaucracy, less flexibility, and slower response to infrastructure problems or traveler needs.”

It also quotes an unnamed reader as saying, “Until the corruption stops, Hawaii will never have a quality airport. The airport needs to be privatized and have someone responsible for making it the best for flyers and employees.”

This situation reminded me of a U.S. airport stuck in a similar dysfunctional situation: the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As journalist John Tierney wrote in the Winter 2017 issue of City Journal, this airport “was run by an unwieldy bureaucracy, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority, which neglected the airport while running up bills on its other unprofitable projects …The terminal was a confusing jumble of dim corridors, the stores were tacky and the restaurants greasy spoons, often rented at bargain prices to politicians’ friends or relatives.”

That and much more changed when the Port Authority was required by the legislature to lease the airport for 40 years to Aerostar, a partnership of investors and a company operating airports in Cancun and other Mexican cities. Tierney goes on to report that, “Three years later, the result is an airport that nobody can call Third World. The redesigned concourses are sleek and airy and easy to navigate…The duty-free shop now looks like an upscale department store, and revenue from the new shops and restaurants has more than doubled.”

There’s a lot more in Tierney’s article, which should be required reading for Hawaii legislators.

A large fraction of Hawaii visitors come from Asia/Pacific countries. They are used to world-class airports, many of which have been privatized, either in part or whole via long-term public-private partnership (P3) leases. Those with full P3s include the major airports in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan’s New Kansai Airport. Partial P3 airports include Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Delhi, Guangzhou, and Beijing Capital. Visitors from Asia/Pacific must be shocked by Honolulu Airport’s numerous shortcomings.

But San Juan is not a mainland U.S. airport. Could Hawaii do something like the San Juan P3 lease?

Thanks to a recent revision of U.S. aviation policy in 2018, all U.S. commercial airports can be long-term leased under a new Airport Investment Partnership Program. A P3-leased airport remains eligible for federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants. In most such leases, the entire 50-year (or whatever term) lease amount is paid up-front, and under AIP, the proceeds can be used for any public purpose, including other needed infrastructure or debt reduction.

A 2021 Reason Foundation policy study analyzed 31 large and medium U.S. hub airports, including Hawaii-owned Honolulu (HNL). The study’s high-value estimate if the airport was leased was $2.7 billion. Of course, the amount paid for the lease would be significantly less than that if the lease required large-scale investment by the new airport company in terminals, parking, etc.

Global infrastructure investors and large global airport companies see the United States as the last great untapped airport market. Hawaiian legislators should look into this option for the Honolulu Airport.

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Will the FAA Administrator Nominee Be Defeated by Misinformation?

Bryan Bedford, CEO of Republic Airways, is President Donald Trump’s nominee for FAA administrator. He’s a pilot himself and a respected airline executive, with strong backing in the industry. However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) aims to defeat him over a spurious air safety claim.

Schumer is an advocate for the “Flight 3407 Families,” relatives of those who died in the 2009 crash of a Colgan Airlines regional airliner. Eighteen months later, Congress enacted a new aviation safety law that did a number of things, including a mandate that all airline cockpit crew members must have at least 1,500 hours of training flight time before being licensed to fly commercial airliners. The Flight 3407 families and their friends in Congress (along with the Air Line Pilots Association, International) strongly defend that 1,500-hour rule.

Bedford, like many aviation safety experts, takes issue with that rule. Here are some key points in that case.

• Both crew members on Flight 3407 had far more hours than that—3.500 hours for the captain and 2,500 for the first officer. The apparent cause of the crash was pilot fatigue, not lack of flight hours.
• Most people who accumulate enough flight hours to get licensed spend their 1,500 hours in repeated flights in a single-engine plane from one or a few small airports. They learn very little from those meaningless flights that would equip them to fly in controlled airspace and into major commercial airports.
• European airlines face no such arbitrary flight-hours requirement, and some first officers on their airlines fly to and from U.S. airports without any problems or FAA concerns.

Bedford, of course, as a long-time airline executive and pilot, knows all this. At Republic he implemented a Leadership in Flight Training (LIFT) academy, teaching real-world commercial flying skills. He has proposed that LIFT graduates with 750 hours of flight time be licensed as first officers, as are military-trained pilots with at least that number of flight hours. That request was denied by FAA during the Biden administration.

I speculate that the Biden administration’s fondness for unions led them to align with the Air Line Pilots Association on preserving the meaningless 1500-hour rule. For those who may wonder why ALPA would take such a position, remember that there is still a national pilot shortage. In times of shortage, airlines have to increase pilot compensation in order to have enough licensed pilots to meet passenger demand. The 1,500-hour rule reduces the supply of new pilots: end of story.

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News Notes

New DOT Incentives for Air Traffic Controllers
On May 1, the Department of Transportation announced a set of incentives for air traffic controllers, aiming to reach “full staffing” within three to four years. The changes include incentives for military controllers, financial bonuses for graduates of Controller Training Initiative schools and the FAA Academy, and adding capacity at the academy itself. FAA provided no projections of how many controllers would retire or quit within the same time period, raising doubts about how much of a net increase would result.

Tokyo Narita Plans 67% Capacity Increase
To meet air travel demand projections, Tokyo Narita Airport plans to add a new runway and expand its terminals, reported Aviation Daily. Tokyo’s other airport, Haneda, has little room for expansion. The additions at Narita will increase runway slot capacity from 300,000 to 500,000. The new runway will be 11,480 ft. long, and the existing runway will be increased to that same length as part of the plan.

SpaceX Wins Top Spot in Defense Launch Services
The U.S. Space Force announced last month that, thanks to its lower launch costs, SpaceX will handle the largest share of its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3, encompassing an estimated 54 launches beginning in 2027. SpaceX won 60% of the launches, while former first-place company United Launch Alliance finished in second place and Blue Origin finished third.

FAA Focuses on Helicopter Traffic at Other Airports
On April 24, FAA announced that it was taking steps to deconflict helicopter and fixed-wing traffic at several airports in addition to Reagan National (DCA). Named in the announcement were  Las Vegas (LAS), Hollywood-Burbank (BUR), and Van Nuys (VNY). But JDA Journal pointed out that FAA’s Safety Management Systems (SMSs) at those airports “did not serve as catalysts for those potential preventive actions.” It took the tragedy at Reagan National to yield belated action not only there but at these other three airports. As a result, FAA says tower controllers are now exercising positive control over helicopter operations at these airports  

AviAlliance Investing More in AGS Airports
In January, AviAlliance purchased the three-airport company AGS Airports from Ferrovial and Macquarie for £1.53 billion. This month, AviAlliance announced that it plans to invest £350 million to upgrade terminals and runways at all three airports: Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Southampton. In March, infrastructure fund Blackstone agreed to acquire 22% of AGS Airports for £235 million. Pension fund PSP Investments retains a 78% majority stake in AGS.

Joby eVTOL Makes First Piloted Transition from Hover to Cruise
Despite planning to launch flight testing and non-commercial market testing flights in Dubai this summer, Joby’s not-yet-certified S4 made its first piloted transition from vertical to forward flight in late April, reported Aviation Daily (May 5). Joby is also doing flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in California, as part of the USAF Agility Prime program.

Would Hydrogen Propulsion Yield Less Contrail Formation?
That question is being addressed in a project launched by Airbus, the Perlan atmospheric glider team, and German researcher DLR. Their test was carried out last December in Nevada, and the data are now being analyzed. The test aircraft was powered by a hydrogen-fueled turbojet engine, while the comparison aircraft used a kerosene-fueled turbojet. Hydrogen exhaust is expected to be free of particulates, which help to form contrails.

Egis Wins Airport Concession in French Guinea
A consortium led by French company Egis has been selected as the preferred bidder for a project to operate and upgrade the Felix-Eboue Airport. The 30-year public-private partnership will commence on Oct. 1. It will include an estimated €100 million worth of improvements to the airport terminal, according to a report in Infralogic (April 22). Last year the same Egis-led team won another 30-year P3 concession, that one for Paris-Beauvais Airport, about 80 km north of Paris.

Archer Outlines Its Planned New York City Air Taxi Network
Startup eVTOL company Archer last month released a map of its planned Manhattan vertiports to serve JFK, LGA, EWR, as well as Teterboro in New Jersey and Republic Airport on Long Island. The system would rely on three existing heliports in Manhattan. Aviation Daily (April 28) reported that Archer has contracted with Skyports Infrastructure and Groupe ADP to electrify one of the Manhattan sites; the other two are operated, respectively, by Atlantic Aviation and Air Pegasus. At the destination airports, Archer is working with Signature Aviation at Newark, Modern Aviation at Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Republic, and with Atlantic and Signature at Teterboro and Westchester.

London Gatwick Agrees to Surface Transportation Changes
To mitigate the noise impacts of the conversion of its parallel taxiway to a second runway, Gatwick Airport has agreed to stricter limits on aircraft noise, sound insulation for nearby residences, and a goal of 54% of passengers arriving by public transit. The overall runway project is estimated to cost £2.2 billion.

MacArthur Airport Plans Terminal P3
Infralogic (April 8) reported that the Town of Islip (Long Island) has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a new terminal at its MacArthur Airport. Statements of qualifications are due Aug. 14. Two terminal options are being offered: a new North Terminal with an air-conditioned connection to the nearby Long Island Railroad station; or a modernization and expansion of the existing terminal. The airport (ISP) served 1.3 million passengers last year and hosts Breeze, Frontier, JetBlue and Southwest airlines, with Avelo also planning to start service this month.

New Vertiport Design Deals with eVTOL Downwash
Field tests and modeling have demonstrated high-velocity downwash of up to 35 mph, posing a hazard to people and objects on the ground. Australian vertiport designer Skyportz has received a provisional patent for a design that would mitigate these effects, as reported by Aviation Week. FAA Engineering Brief 105A requires downwash caution areas (DCAs) to be established anywhere that wind velocities could exceed 34.5 mph.

MUAC Streamlines North European Airspace
The Maastricht Upper Area Control Center, operated by Eurocontrol, has completed a streamlining of the upper-altitude airspace of the Netherlands and northwest Germany. It allows more direct routes, continuous climb and descent, and a reshaped military training area. Together the changes will save time and fuel for aircraft using this busy airspace.

San Jose, CA Airport Connector P3 Moving Forward
Public Works Financing reported (March 2025 issue) that the city council in March approved the next stage of its proposed public-private partnership (P3) with Glydways for a 3.5-mile automated people mover between the San Jose airport (SJC) and the city’s light rail station downtown. Phase 2 of the P3’s predevelopment process includes preliminary design, environmental permitting, and project finance alternatives.

Ultra-Short Takeoff Developer Raises $115 Million
Electra.aero announced on April 21 that it had secured $115 million in Series B funding, enabling it to proceed with the pre-production and certification phase for its EL9 aircraft. As noted in previous issues, the EL9’s “blown wing” design will enable takeoffs and landings using only 150 feet of runway. The EL9 is a hybrid-electric aircraft with nine seats. The company has received more than 2,200 pre-orders for the EL9. It also has an Air Force contract looking into military applications.

Philippines Considers 20 Airport P3s
Infralogic reported (April 7) that the country’s transportation undersecretary announced that the government plans to increase the number of airports to be considered for long-term public-private partnerships, to as many as 20. Offers have already been received for the airports in Davao, Iloilo, Kalibo, and Puerto Princesa.

Correction Regarding FAA and ADS-B/In
A retired FAA official pointed to inaccuracies in last month’s article on the case for reviving ADS-B/In. First, he noted that the former FAA ADS-B mandate came about via a federal regulation, not a statute. Second, he pointed out that FAA work on ADS-B/In had continued until very recently, when it was abandoned by the most recent Administrators. That is unfortunate.

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Quotable Quotes

“[FAA] is responsible for the operation and oversight of the nation’s air traffic system, and it is critical that those responsibilities be separated clearly. Near-term policy change should be implemented to ensure that the ATO is subject to the same types of certification and surveillance processes as commercial air operators and other industry service providers. A long-term solution is to separate the FAA’s air traffic and safety oversight organizations, as has been done in other countries.”
—John Illson, “The Case for Enhanced Aviation Oversight,” Aviation Week, April 21-May 4, 2025

“We believe that FAA regulatory authorities should be free to focus on air safety while an independent air traffic service works on innovation and efficiency while meeting the standards set by regulators. An additional wrinkle in this structure is being demonstrated in Europe where ATC is run by independent air navigation services providers while the supporting technology and data services are run by a separate entity called an ATM Data Service Provider.”
—Gene Hayman and Charlie Keegan, “The Now or Never ATC System,” Aviation Daily, April 18, 2025

“Unacceptable. Our helicopter restrictions around DCA are crystal clear. In addition to investigations from NTSB and FAA News, I’ll be talking to the Dept. of Defense to ask why the hell our rules were disregarded. No more helicopter rides for VIPs or unnecessary training in a congested DCA airspace full of civilians. Take a taxi or Uber—besides, most VIPs have black car service.”
—Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, “Duffy Blasts Defense Department After Incident in D.C. Airspace,” PoliticoPro, May 3, 2025

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Source: https://reason.org/aviation-policy-news/sean-duffy-plan-will-not-produce-a-new-atc-system/