A new round of proposals to modernize and privatize the U.S. air traffic control (ATC) system is generating support for modernization but a mixed reaction to the idea of turning over one of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) primary responsibilities to a private enterprise.
ATC privatization has been proposed numerous times in the past. The most recent round of discussion began with a June 5 proposal from President Donald Trump to move ATC operations to a new non-government entity. This new, “more nimble” ATC would “more quickly and securely implement Next Generation (NextGen) technology, which will reduce aircraft delays and expand the availability of the National Airspace System for all users,” the White House said.
Two weeks later, leaders of the aviation subcommittee of the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced a bill to reauthorize FAA operations for the next six years, including a provision that the commi…
