December 4, 2025

FLIGHT IS A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT:

Air Traffic Control Privatization Is Long Overdue (Chris Edwards, 12/03/25, NH JHournal)

Canada’s ATC is an excellent model of reform. The country privatized its system in 1996, establishing it as a self-funded nonprofit corporation. “Nav Canada” has become a leader in ATC innovation and has won international awards for its top-class performance. That success has drawn the attention of Congress, and in 2016, the House Transportation Committee passed an FAA restructuring bill based on the Canadian nonprofit model.

Congress should revive this reform plan, which the first Trump administration supported. The advantage would be not just avoiding political disruptions but also fixing years of labor and technology mismanagement by the FAA and Congress.

As one example, shortages of air traffic controllers have been causing flight delays for years. The FAA has not had the hiring flexibility to solve the problem that a private ATC system would. Also, the FAA is micromanaged by Congress, which nixed the creation of an additional training academy for controllers.

As for technology, the FAA has struggled with its “NextGen” modernization effort, according to a recent report by the agency’s inspector general. After two decades, the multi-billion dollar upgrade has achieved only 16 percent of its intended benefits, and “many key programs and capabilities are over budget and delayed until 2030 or beyond.”