President Trump plans to privatize the nation’s air traffic control system, a move that would eliminate $175 in annual spending by the federal government.
The president’s budget blueprint released Thursday “initiates a multi-year re-authorization proposal to shift the air traffic control function of the Federal Aviation Administration to an independent, non-governmental organization, making the system more efficient and innovative while maintaining safety.”
“This would benefit the flying public and taxpayers overall,” it adds.
Overall, the Trump budget would slash the Department of Transportation’s budget by $2.4 billion, a 13 percent decrease, to $16.2 billion.
Elsewhere in the budget, the Trump administration aims to eliminate a federal program that subsidizes smaller, community airports.
The budget “Eliminates funding for the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, which was originally conceived of as a temporary program nearly 40 years ago to provide subsidized commercial air service to rural airports.”
“EAS flights are not full and have high subsidy costs per passenger. Several EAS-eligible communities are relatively close to major airports, and communities that have EAS could be served by other existing modes of transportation.”
The entire budget faces a high hurdle in Congress, which has to approve it.