经济学人:特朗普欲将空中交通私有化(上)

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

　　Air travel: Roger, Tango, Romeo, Ump 空中旅行：收到

　　President Trump¹ 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 Constellation² collided with a United Air Lines DC-7 over the Grand Canyon³ in Arizona, killing⁴ 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 outdated⁵ 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),  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），

　　in charge of running and modernising the world's biggest air-transport system. 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 entity⁶ financed by user fees,  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，

　　instead of the present patchwork⁷ of taxes and grants. 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,  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，

　　as well as in 21 “en route” centres looking after flights along the nation's airways⁸. 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 frustrated⁹ 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 mired¹⁰ 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。

分享到：