Airlines and airports don’t start wars (unless you count airfare wars). They must, however, adjust their operations to war disruptions for safety, security, infrastructure and financial reasons. Those that have a good crisis management plan in place (and all should) will have switched to emergency mode to safeguard their employees and customers.
As with any war, there are no certainties or guarantees about the outcome of the Iran war or its long-term impact on the global air transport industry. But within America, the White House and US Congress must not let this conflict erode important inroads it has been making to modernize a critical safety, security and economic asset: the national airspace system.
Last year, and not long after the awful and avoidable fatal collision of an American airliner and a US Army helicopter close to Reagan Washington National Airport, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy launched a bipartisan, cross-industry campaign to modernize the air traffic management (ATM) system and restore it to the world-leading status it had long deserved before multiple near misses, massive congestion and periodic outages, and ultimately the Reagan crash brought its reputation into question.
Lawmakers, labor groups, special interest organizations and airlines that had long been at loggerheads about the how and why of ATM modernization came together in unified and publicly declared support of Duffy’s campaign. It was a pivotal moment, long overdue.
The unified nature of the campaign, along with the fear of another crash, led Congress to approve the initial $12 billion-plus funding needed to get real ATM modernization underway. But Duffy always made clear that much more would be needed.
The risk is that the “more”—billions of dollars—will start to play second fiddle to increasing Pentagon demands if the Iran war lengthens.
But neglecting the ATM campaign now would be a terrible mistake. Much, if not all, of the technologies required to modernize already exist. Industry has the knowledge, wherewithal and enthusiasm to provide what is necessary, whether it’s in equipment, software or system management expertise. A relatively new and highly knowledgeable FAA Administrator, Brian Bedford, has a firm grasp of the challenge, the opportunity and what’s needed to lead his agency into a new era.
The dedicated managers and controllers at FAA deserve this opportunity. Airline crews and the flying public should expect and demand to know they are safe in US commercial airspace.
Long term, America’s aviation leadership status and the US economy depend on a modern, efficient and utterly safe ATM system.
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