A few months ago, in the wake of the fatal collision between a US Army helicopter and a passenger jet, I wrote why the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has severely compromised air safety because as a government agency, it cannot effectively engage in economic calculation. The recent closures at Newark International Airport in New Jersey due to air controller equipment malfunctions only highlights the problems we are seeing in the ATC towers. …

The defenders of the status quo assume that the only difference between socialist ATC and ATC being performed by a private firm is that private firms will obsess with making profits at the expense of safety while socialist entities are not burdened with such constraints. Yet, as we saw from the experience with socialism in the old Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites, socialist systems operated in time warps.

When I went to East Berlin in 1982, it was like stepping back in time, especially comparing the place to its West Berlin counterpart. When the Iron Curtain fell around 1990, it was painfully obvious that the old Soviet Bloc still resembled the world of the late 1940s. …

The problem is systematic and not due to a lack of political will; these issues are baked into socialist systems. When defenders of the present system claim making it private will eliminate “congressional oversight,” one should remember that few of these vaunted overseers know anything about ATC, with “oversight” mainly being members of Congress grandstanding at congressional hearings. So-called oversight really is about scoring political points, not developing an efficient and safe ATC system.

But why should private, for-profit firms perform the ATC duties? These are the only entities that can truly determine the value of capital through economic calculation. These firms do not purchase capital because a certain device is made in the district or state of a powerful member of Congress or for other political reasons. Instead, they make capital investments that make their own systems more efficient, less costly, and more profitable. …

If we wish to improve air safety and improve prospects for air travel, the FAA should be abolished, and ATC systems be turned over to private enterprise. The reasons for not doing so are self-serving and reflect a desire not to disturb the status quo, as bad as things might be. Unfortunately, the status quo is winning and future air travelers who will die or be seriously injured in preventable plane crashes will be the victims.