Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., said on Newsmax that the federal government has fallen behind on modernizing the nation's air traffic control system.
He added that the consequences could impact aviation safety across the board.
"Well, now, this may be considered an attempt at humor, but it's a real one," Bergman, a retired commercial airline pilot, told "Newsline" on Monday. "Let's talk about Atlanta.
"As a pilot and as a person who has driven the freeways around Atlanta, I'd rather be a pilot than a driver on the Atlanta freeways when there's a little bit of snow and ice on the road down there.
"The people are good people, but they don't know how to drive in adverse weather conditions."
Bergman said the same principle applies in aviation: preparedness, training, and adaptability are key.
"We have to ensure that training and safety are first, no matter whether you're the pilot, the tower operator, you know, in the ATC centers," he said.
"I know I'm repeating myself here, but we are so overdue as a federal government to bring the air traffic system into the 21st century using the predictive models, both for maintenance and for safety of the aircraft in the air and on the ground."
He emphasized that modern technology exists to prevent catastrophic mistakes, but that outdated systems and bureaucratic inertia are holding progress back.
"Think about the grounds that a plane's on fire, and all of a sudden there's a plane crossing a runway, there's been a miscommunication. We have tools that will make it much safer," Bergman said. "The government has to step up its modernization."
He added that the issue isn't just technical; it'sinstitutional.
"And that's largely, I'm not going to lay blame, but your bureaucratic operations and in some cases, union unwillingness to change the rules so that more people can become qualified in this digital world to become good, safe air traffic controllers," he said.
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