Can the FAA Be Trusted to Fix Air-Traffic Control?
Instapundit asks, "Can the FAA be trusted to fix air traffic conrol?" and points to the Investor's Business Daily piece by John Merline on the topic:
In the wake of a raft of air traffic controllers caught sleeping on the job, the Federal Aviation Administration issued new rules to combat fatigue. But this problem has dogged the FAA for years.
Fatigue is just one piece of a long history of FAA management problems with the air traffic control (ATC) system, according to an IBD review of government reports and audits and various news accounts. Just last week, the Transportation Department's inspector general announced two audits focusing on air traffic controller mistakes.
To some, this record calls into question whether the FAA can be trusted to fix the problems plaguing the ATC.
Reason Foundation transportation expert Robert Poole, for example, argues that the FAA's problems stem from its dual role as operator and regulator of air traffic control, which he says "creates a potential conflict of interest."
The story documents ongoing issues with the FAA's management of air traffic.
Watch Reason.tv's "Your Flight Has Been Delayed—and it's Washington's Fault," which features Poole and lays out a proven reform strategy to spin off air-traffic conrol to safer, more efficient system: