The current air traffic control system is severely constrained and unfairly funded. Aircraft today are equipped with smart technology in the cockpit but are unable to utilize that technology fully because FAA ground-based systems are not designed to interact with newer technology. The current system is human-centric, maintenance-intensive and ground-based; it relies on 1950s technology. The limits of the current air traffic control system will prevent it from scaling up to meet future demands, so the time for change is now.
Fair funding would end the current passenger subsidy of corporate jets, making them pay their fair share of ATC services they use. Commercial aviation accounts for approximately 70 percent of FAA costs to provide air traffic control services, yet airlines and their passengers subsidize luxury jets, paying 90 percent of the costs. Congress must stop this inequity and rebalance the funding system so that each user pays their fair share.