So What's the Deal With Air Traffic Control Reform?

The first part of President Trump's $1 trillion infrastructure plan took flight Monday when the president called for the privatization of the country's air traffic control system. "We're still stuck with an ancient, broken, antiquated, horrible system that doesn't work," Trump said of the current air traffic control organization run by the FAA. Flights are delayed and flying sucks, the president argued, and the best way to change that is to take the responsibility for managing airspace away from the bureaucrats at the Federal Aviation Administration and hand it over to a private nonprofit organization. Such a plan won't cost taxpayers a dime, he said, and will improve efficiency. This idea dates to the 1970s, but has never gotten anywhere.