Washington, DC

Industry coalition encourages President-Elect Trump to find common ground and keep America’s ATC system the world’s safest

A coalition representing virtually every sector of the nation’s aviation and aerospace industry has sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump, urging his incoming administration to work with industry to find a unified path forward to create efficiencies within the FAA that will ensure our nation’s aviation system remains the safest in the world for all users.

“The United States is the global leader in aviation, and it is a top priority to ensure our aviation system remains the largest, safest, most diverse and most efficient in the world,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen.

“This letter sends an important message to the new administration that the industry is united in agreement that our nation’s aviation infrastructure must remain prepared to meet the needs of the citizens, companies and communities that rely on it in the years to come.”

“The aviation industry - from commercial aviation to general aviation, manufacturing, labor, airports, advanced air mobility and other emerging technologies - accounts for more than 5% of the US gross domestic product (GDP) generating over 10 million high-quality jobs,” the December 23rd letter states.

“Our nation’s ATC system is a vital infrastructure asset, essential to safe air travel and to our nation’s economic growth and competitiveness.

“To maintain a best-in-class ATC system that is globally competitive, our objective is to work with your administration to find common ground so that together we can address needed efficiencies within the FAA, including process reforms to procure and deploy air traffic control equipment, modernize and realign facilities to improve operational efficiencies, address key staffing shortages, and ensure stable and predictable funding, including multi-year budgeting, to strategically manage and deploy the FAA’s ATC assets,” the letter continues.

The groups encouraged the Trump administration to work with industry, exclusive representatives of the FAA’s workforce and Congress to support these needed improvements and efforts to ensure the FAA can more effectively utilize the Airport and Airway Trust Fund to modernize its facilities and air traffic control equipment.

“We stand ready to work with you and your administration,” the letter states.