Government Security News February 2017 Digital Edition

Airport/Aviation Security
Passenger advocacy group lists
concerns before airline CEOs meet with
President Trump
WASHINGTON, DC – Feb. 6, 2017
CEOs from the major U.S. Airlines
will meet with President
Trump on Thursday and
will likely discuss air
traffic control privatization
and further limitations
on foreign air competition.
As profits soar
to record levels, passengers
face a reduction in
flights, shrinking seats,
and less reliable air travel
especially from small
and medium size cities,
noted FlyersRights.org.
Being exempt from state consumer
protection laws is not enough for
the airlines. They seek to block foreign
competition from airlines such
as Norwegian Air, WOW Airlines,
and Emirates. Blocking foreign
competition will result in higher
Paul Hudson
Flyer’s Rights Pres
prices and fewer choices for consumers.
Paul Hudson, president
of FlyersRights.org and
member of the FAA Aviation
Rulemaking Advisory
Committee, noted the
similarities between the
airline industry now and
the railroad industry in
the 19th century, “Then,
railroads controlled long
distance transportation,
as well as the courts and
government regulators.
A new word was coined to describe
their abusive treatment of the public:
being railroaded. Today, Americans
are being ‘airlined’.”
Additionally, the airlines are
pushing for privatization of the Air
Traffic Control system. The plan
for privatization leaves little room
for government oversight over an
inherently governmental function,
would transfer all government air
traffic control to a AMTRAK like
entity controlled by the airlines, and
grant a long list of demands sought
by air controller union including
the right to strike. Such legislation
was passed by the House in the last
Congress but not acted on by the
Senate.
FlyersRights.org is the United
States’ largest airline passenger advocacy
group. The organization is
most famous for spearheading the
Passenger Bill of Rights and the
rule against tarmac confinements.
Among the many services it provides
for airline passengers, it operates
a toll-free hotline and publishes
a weekly newsletter. FlyersRights.
org is currently appealing the FAA’s
refusal to enact a rulemaking to
address the problems of shrinking
seat sizes to the D.C. Circuit Court
of Appeals. (Case 16-1101, FlyersRights
Education Fund v. FAA).
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