Recent years have seen the existing flight system pushed to its limit. Traffic controllers and pilots are aging out, creating a shortage of skilled personnel at a time of high demand. Safety incidents are becoming more frequent, and the situation has become a tragedy in waiting. This is the culmination of a series of factors centered around Federal regulation and administration that should be addressed proactively.
We must recognize the current role of the FAA is to make the public feel safe flying. To craft a perception which is used to support a for profit industry. There is institutional resistance to altering safety systems without a tragic cause as that would be a tacit admission that the process is flawed and incomplete, undermining public confidence and profitability.
We can address some of these issues in turn:
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Remove the 30 year maximum age limit on air traffic controller training, and the 56 year mandatory retirement age. This preemptively disqualifies large numbers of responsible, level headed, healthy individuals without just cause. Cognitive tests of problem solving and reaction times can replace these limits as part of an annual health evaluation.
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Immediately reexamine rules governing active runway control and phraseology. Unify access to active runways under common frequencies and controllers. Clarify clearances to land and takeoff in congested conditions. Either forbid clearance to land on occupied runway altogether, or alter terminology to specify the provisional nature of the approach. Etc.
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Examine the potential for a complete rebuild of the ATC system with new technologies and automation. There is inertial preference for using what is known to work, but the rule based structure of normal flight is uniquely well suited to AI. Formally study using AI as assistance to, and replacement of, many traffic control functions.
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Repeal the 1,500 flight hour rule. This was enacted in a knee jerk response after a crash that was unrelated to pilot experience levels, and would not have applied to either Captain or Copilot of that flight. Instead, it has created an onerous barrier to entry for new pilots before they can begin a paying career in commercial aviation. To build up their required flight hours, many of these inexperienced aviators take up jobs as flight instructors themselves before moving on to their full career path. Incomplete or improper habits are being ingrained in this time where they could be receiving proper commercial aviation training and experience.
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Clearly define the FAA remit to one of facilitation. A regulatory structure is required for flight, the human body is ill suited to the speeds and effects involved and a common language/phraseology and set of rules are needed. Past this point, the current regulatory scheme becomes one of stagnation and prevention. Currently aircraft may not operate unless they have approval of the Federal regulators. Only approved equipment can be fitted to aircraft. This chokes out innovation and competition, lending itself to the monopolization of the market (Boeing). A monopolized, regulated market becomes self serving and abusive (see 737 MAX). Likewise, small general aviation development and production has all but halted, and many of the airframes in use are decades old and unreplaceable. The system must be altered to one of permissiveness, where regulatory standards are goals and endorsements not binders and fetters.
By more clearly defining the structure of the FAA’s role in supporting flight the system can be made safer and more accessible than current.