On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 09:16:55 -0700, Luke Skywalker
wrote in
.com:


There are two questions about the FSS "modernization" which are in
play.

The first is a tactical one, can Lockmart provide the service that
pilots need to fly safely? My guess is that eventually things improve
and get better.

Given the structure LockMart has imposed on privatized FSS, it is
unlikely that briefers with local metrological knowledge will ever be
available again as they were pre-privatization. That is not an
improvement in service nor will it get better.

The more pressing one, the one that AOPA and others seemed to
completly fall down on, is what is the role of aviation in The
Republic and what is the role of the government in aviation. I
realize that to some degree this is politics and I"ll try and stay out
of that.


https://www.reason.org/atcreform09.shtml
Air Traffic Control Reform Newsletter

Issue No. 9
December 2002

By Robert Poole


Controllers, FAA Mistaken on Privatization

Holiday travelers can expect to be greeted at many airports by
off-duty air traffic controllers protesting an alleged Bush
Administration plan to "farm out to the lowest bidder" their
vitally important jobs. In response, the Federal Aviation
Administration has managed to muddy the waters, rather than
defending the validity of what the Bush folks are actually doing.

First, let's clarify the specific change in federal policy which
the President announced last June. He signed a one-sentence
executive order re-affirming that air traffic control (ATC) is not
"inherently governmental." That order overturned a last-minute
executive order issued by President Clinton, which slipped the
"inherently governmental" language into a broader directive on
reforming ATC. Most aviation experts agree that ATC is a high-tech
service business, which can be provided either by government or by
commercial entities—always operating under stringent governmental
safety regulation. It's the safety regulation that most would
agree is inherently governmental. ...


If ATC isn't inherently governmental, why did the government shut it
down immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks?

But privatization of the FSS system sends a clear message that
nurturing aviation a[n]d maintaining its viability at all levels is no
longer a function of the government of The Republic...It is that
simple.

Sort of like letting the Arabs run the US ports, right?

I think we will all come to regret that as events move forward,
particularly as the next step unless there is a change in thinking in
DC is that the ATC system is next.

You think? :-(

If you like how the space shuttle system is operated...you will love
Lock Mart running the FSS.

Robert

You forgot to mention dismantling the world's safest ATC system and
replacing it with a vulnerable satellite-based system, user fees, and
handing the National Airspace System over to the corporate airline
industry. Perhaps the Bush administration can award a non-competitive
ATC contract to the Arabs instead. :-(