✈️ Turbulence ahead

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IN THIS ISSUE

• ✈️ Budget woes threaten to make flying less safe

• 😠 Lula can’t let go of Operation Car Wash

• 🇺🇸 Brazilian lawmaker picks a fight with Donald Trump

Aviation regulator warns of financial squeeze threatening flight safety

Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) warned last week that a budget squeeze is threatening its ability to guarantee basic flight safety operations across the country. In a report to the Federal Accounts Court (TCU), the agency raised concerns about maintaining service quality and aviation safety amid shrinking resources.

👉 Why it matters. The warning comes as Brazil’s aviation sector grows rapidly, putting pressure on regulators to oversee a larger and more complex network of airports, airlines and emerging technologies such as drones and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

By the numbers. For 2025, ANAC’s discretionary budget (over which officials have more control, unlike operational expenses and payroll, for example) is set at BRL 120.7 million (USD 20.5 million), short of the BRL 172 million the agency says it needs. Cuts have been a constant issue since 2020; adjusted for inflation, this year’s budget represents just one-third of its 2013 funding level.

Zoom out. Funding woes are affecting multiple regulatory agencies. ANTT (roadways), ANTAQ (waterways) and the National Water Agency (ANA), have complained that shrinking budgets are leaving their oversight capacity hamstrung.

Every penny counts. In a bid to cut costs, ANAC has consolidated operations into fewer office spaces, sharing buildings with other government agencies and cutting maintenance contracts. It estimates that these measures had already saved BRL 52 million by the end of last year.

Yes, but … Staffing remains an issue: even after hiring 70 new employees last year, the agency operates with 36% fewer workers than what is outlined in its founding law.

Bottom line. Strategic and operational projects at ANAC are already suffering from a lack of funding, particularly in areas like information technology, digital transformation and cybersecurity — undermining data protection, critical systems and efforts to modernize services. The agency also warned of setbacks in oversight, intelligence gathering and decision-making processes.

The big picture. The funding challenges faced by regulatory agencies underscore a broader problem with the federal budget: welfare programs — and, more significantly, congressional budgetary earmarks — are claiming a growing share of resources, even as fiscal constraints deepen the strain.

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