经济学人下载:特朗普欲将空中交通私有化(上)

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President Trump wants to privatise air-traffic control
特朗普总统意欲将空中交通控制私有化

In June 1956 a TWA Constellation collided with a United Air Lines DC-7 over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, killing all 128 people on both aircraft.
1956年6月，环球航空的星座机型（TWA）在亚利桑那州大峡谷与美国联合航空DC-7机相撞，两机128名人员全部罹难。

At the time it was the worst ever airline disaster.
这是当时史上最严重的一次空难。

Struggling with outdated technology and a post-war boom in air travel, overworked air-traffic controllers failed to spot that the planes were on a collision course.
由于过时的技术和战后航空旅行的繁荣发展，过度劳累的空中交通管制人员未能及时发现飞机处在碰撞航向。

That crash led to the creation of a new body, which became the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in charge of running and modernising the world's biggest air-transport system.
那次事故导致了一个新的机构诞生并成为联邦航空管理局（FAA），负责运营和现代化世界最大的航空运输系统。

With that system again struggling to keep pace with demand, Donald Trump thinks it is time to privatise America's air-traffic control service.
随着这个系统再次难以跟上需求增长的速度，唐纳德·特朗普认为，是时候将美国的空中交通管制服务私有化了。

This week the president outlined a plan to turn air-traffic control into a separate non-profit entity financed by user fees, instead of the present patchwork of taxes and grants.
本周总统提出一项计划，将空中交通控制转变为独立的非盈利实体并由用户费资助，取代当前的税收和补助金的共同资助。

Shorn of its air-traffic responsibility, the FAA would become a safety body.
没有了其空中交通的责任，美国联邦航空局将成为一个安全机构。

America's air-traffic system is vast, consisting of 14,000 controllers working in 476 airport-control towers that handle take-offs and landings, as well as in 21 “en route” centres looking after flights along the nation's airways.
美国的空中交通系统是庞大的，由在476个机场控制塔工作的14000个管制人员处理飞机起降工作，以及在21“途中”中心照顾沿着国家航道的航空公司的航班。

It has a good safety record, but elderly technology limits the number of flights that can be handled.
而且它有一个良好的安全记录，但过时的技术限制了可管理的航班数量。

This leads to delays and frustrated flyers.
这就导致了飞机延误和飞机乘客受挫。

With passenger numbers set to grow from 800m a year to almost 1bn by 2026, the problem will only get worse.
随着旅客人数将从每年8亿到2026增长到近10亿，这个问题只会变得更糟。

Mr Trump believes that, no longer mired in a federal bureaucracy, the air-traffic service will become more efficient and better able to invest in technology.
特朗普认为，如果不再陷入联邦官僚机构，空中交通服务将变得更有效率，并能更好地投资于技术。