The Federal Aviation Administration has spent millions on developing a system to track every single aircraft over the skies of the United States of America. Along with this they have spent millions in information technology initiatives so that the system works in conjunction with all military operations, missile defense strategies and airline traffic, as well as all general aviation. With this complex computer system the Federal Aviation Administration is said to be one of the most advanced government agencies anywhere in the world. That is definitely something to be proud of. Unfortunately with all this cost the Federal Aviation Administration has failed to take advantage of the incredible deficiencies that this system and these IT initiatives have produced.

It is sad but true that the U.S. taxpayer has not received the efficiencies from the economies of scale that these initiatives have brought forth in streamlining the Federal Aviation Administration and all U.S. air traffic. It would seem that with such a computer system we no longer need all those air traffic controllers and human capital in the longer. It is said it in the future there will be a shortage of air traffic controllers and if this is the case now is a good time to have massive downsizing. It is of interest to note that the Federal Aviation Administration has spent these millions of dollars without bothering to put this system to work in a way, which saves the taxpayers money. We are the ones who paid for in the system works well. We noted air traffic controllers is far back as the Reagan years have produced serious issues with a transportation sector. Getting rid of the human elements, which so often causes human error in serious incidents and accidents could in fact reduce the number of air fatalities in the coming decade.

Please note that this author is not anti-union, but rather a realist and study are of human nature in behavior. The air traffic control system in the United States of America along with the upgraded IT initiatives is such that we can now reduce the payroll at the Federal Aviation Administration and save billions of dollars over the next two decades. It is time that we did a return on investment as taxpayers for the huge number of IT initiatives and millions of dollars spent. Is it too much to ask government to make good on their promise for the money they spent in the budgets that they submitted to Congress to show us that they in fact did accomplish the mission in streamlining the Federal Aviation Administration? All government agencies must be held accountable; just like all public companies are held accountable by Sarbaines Oxley and the SEC. We can no longer as Americans allow government to spend our money and make promises that they do not fulfill. It is time to cut the budget of the Federal Aviation Administration and those budget cuts must be made against the biggest costs, which is payroll. There can be no further excuse and there should be no further delay, as the taxpayer has already paid. Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Currently Lance is retired at age 40 and is running an Online Think Tank Forum while traveling North America. Perhaps considering something extremely challenging to do that will exercise his mind and utilize all his experiences, observations and skills. Any ideas?