As a skydiver, you know all aircraft need equal access to Air Traffic Control (ATC) resources. We fly in a complex, dynamic environment that is democratically available to all planes whether they’re jumbo jets, hobby one-seaters, or skydiving aircraft–it’s essential to safe operations for everyone.
However, there’s a bill in front of the House of Representatives (HR 2997) that would privatize ATC, putting this vital system in the hands of a private corporation. Two major potential concerns for skydiving include the following:
- A private ATC corporation could choose to charge fees to aircraft operators, potentially increasing your skydiving prices significantly. Airline passengers may not notice much because any fees would be shared across many more people, but passengers of smaller aircraft such as jump planes would see major rate hikes with fewer passengers per plane.
- The United States Parachute Association (USPA) expresses this concern: “Handing control of our airspace to a private corporation will ensure that the largest, most well-funded users-the airlines-get priority while other users-including skydive operators-would see lesser priority and reduced service.”
- Model letter to your representative
- Congressional member directory (lookup based on your zipcode)
- Representative directory with phone numbers
We have already sent our opposition statements, and we’d love it if you could help us keep ATC the way it is–free and available to all flights equally. The bill could be voted on as soon as July 11, so please comment soon if you are able.
Thanks for your support! See you in the sky soon.
Sincerely,
Steve Boyd
Owner, Skydive Spaceland
www.SkydiveSpaceland.com