April 20, 2015 - In remarks to the Aero Club of
Washington today National Air Traffic
Controllers Association (NATCA) President Paul
Rinaldi called for a change to the way the
nation’s aviation system is funded.
“The status quo of unstable, unpredictable
funding for the National Airspace System has led
to serious problems at the FAA,” said Rinaldi.
“It cannot finance long-term projects, develop
the system for new users or modernize our
country’s aging infrastructure. The FAA has also
struggled to maintain proper resources and staff
at our busiest air traffic control facilities.”
Rinaldi said these problems are a result of
short-term funding bills, government shutdowns,
partial FAA shutdowns, threatened
government-wide and FAA specific shutdowns,
sequestration, and 23 authorization extensions.
He reminded members of the Aero Club that
sequestration is still a threat, with the second
round of mandated cuts set for implementation on
October 1.
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