ArtP writes:

And those few citizens who buy airline tickets. If the airlines had
to pay for ATC services, do you really think they wouldn't pass
those charges on to the passengers?

Since it won't cost much more for ATC to handle a 747 than a Cessna,
the cost per passenger won't be very much.

That turns out not to be the case. COPA in Canada lobbied very
successfully to keep the Nav Canada fee low for light aircraft (about
USD 45/year), but it is orders of magnitude higher for the air
carriers -- I think that it adds a few dollars to every ticket. That,
together with a post-September-11 so-called security tax (not,
obviously, used for security) and other taxes, make life hard for the
airlines and their passengers. While privatized ATC hasn't been a
real problem for private aircraft owners, it does affect the airlines
quite a bit. It's purely an economic problem, though, not a safety
one.


All the best,


David