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A couple years ago the transportation secretary tried to get funding to hire 2,000 more controllers. Congress said no

https://thehill.com/regulation/transportation/4617992-buttig...

why is this even something that the gov needs to worry about directly? why don't they just force airports / airlines to have to pay for these guys like in UK, Canada, or Germany?

All 3 of those countries have separate organizations employing the air traffic controllers. DFS is 100% owned by the government, NATS is formerly a public service and now half privately owned, and Nav Canada was established by the ANS act.

The FAA has a $5.20 tax per flight segment per passenger and a 7.5% ticket tax. The budget set by congress limits how much the FAA can spend on air traffic control, and the surplus (there is a surplus) goes into the AATF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_and_Airway_Trust_Fund

This is a direct cost of American austerity.

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