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Runaway labor costs are not the only airline ills. Congress could also do more to deregulate gates, privatize air traffic control and restore some sanity to antitrust law. But none of those other things will matter unless airlines are able to get their labor costs under control and function as healthy companies.

I am an air traffic controller @ PHL and wonder if there are many members of FR who feel that the air traffic control system in this country should be privatized. If you agree with the the WSJ on this question, please tell me why. Thanks,

MoodyBlu

"I am an air traffic controller @ PHL and wonder if there are many members of FR who feel that the air traffic control system in this country should be privatized. If you agree with the the WSJ on this question, please tell me why. Thanks,"

ATC would be a difficult sector to privatize, for several reasons.

For ATC to privatize, it has to become a business. A business has to have customers, make a profit, and do a better job for less money than a similar endeavor run by the government. I have a hard time believing that such would be the case were it privatized.

For one thing, ATC - as pervasive as it is - does not have a comparatively large work force, and that work force, while well-paid, is not "out-paid," i.e., paid more than it's worth. In fact, considering the spatial and managerial skills involved, I'd say that most good ATC guys make LESS than they could in other industries.

So privatizing ATC would not save money on labor costs. And, while it WOULD have a built-in customer base (all the existing airports), those airport authorities would now have to start paying for something they now get either free or for very little investment. So a private ATC company would not have a huge guaranteed revenue stream on which to rely. Which questions its ability to make money.

And the next generation of ATC technology is going to take some investment in equipment and training - and that investment has to be recouped somehow if this business is to somehow make a profit.

I just don't see ATC as a candidate for privatization - largely due to the fact that for the life of me I can't imagine a workable business plan for it.

BTW, the people who are ATC have and display some of the most amazing skill sets in any profession I can think of. It is a profession which routinely operates on about .00001 percentage of error, as close to perfection as is possible with humans involved. Anyone who doubts this should spend a week listening to ATC at some our businest airports - and then you'll understand the sheer artistry of ATC's professionals.

BTW, to apply to be ATC, you can be NO OLDER than THIRTY-ONE. How long you been pushin' tin?

Michael