US President Donald Trump has shown support for modernising the country’s air traffic control system and airports, during a meeting at the White House with airline and airport executives today.
Trump also suggests that the US Federal Aviation Administration, which is responsible for US ATC, should be run by a pilot.
"I hear we're spending billions and billions of dollars, it's a system that's totally out of whack,” Trump says of the ATC system.
Several airline executives attended the meeting, including the chiefs of Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Air Group, JetBlue Airways and Atlas Air. Executives from the operators of New York City area, Atlanta, Washington DC, Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles airports among others were also present.
Trump’s comments on the ATC system will likely please most US airlines, which have been calling for modernising the system and for ATC functions to be divested from the FAA. Airlines say flights operating under the current ATC system are prone to delays and inefficiencies.
"We want the travelling public to have the greatest customer service and with an absolute minimum of delays,” says Trump.
Pointing to the transportation infrastructure in countries like China and Japan, he adds: “Our airports used to be the best and now they are at the bottom.”
Trump campaigned on a proposal to spend up to $1 trillion in infrastructure improvements, although it is still not clear how this will be implemented. “We have an obsolete plane system, we have obsolete airports,” he tells the airline and airport executives.
He also promised to unveil in about “two or three weeks” a plan that will cut taxes on US companies, including airlines.
While Trump’s comments on ATC reform and airport improvements will be welcomed by US airlines, he did not touch on issues involving the three big Gulf carriers and Norwegian, which have preoccupied US airlines and their unions in the past two years.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
