The recent mid-air collision over the Potomac River, resulting in the tragic loss of 67 lives, has reignited discussions about the state of America’s air traffic control (ATC) system. In the wake of this tragedy, some commentators have renewed calls to privatize ATC, suggesting that it would solve every problem in aviation. But before we rush to upend the ATC system that, in reality, is not the root of the problem, we should ask: What exactly would privatizing ATC solve?
The assumption behind privatization is that shifting control to a private entity would increase efficiency. However, after decades in the aviation industry — as an airline captain, consultant, and analyst — I can say with confidence that air traffic control is not the primary cause of flight delays or congestion. The real issue lies internally with airline operations.
Does ATC need new equipment and more controllers — of course. Will this reduce delays – absolutely not.
The reality is that airlines cause congestion by failing to properly manage the ‘ day of ‘ movement of their aircraft so as to coordinate when aircraft arrive to prevent bottlenecks at major airports. This creates highly variant point overloads in the aircraft flow, something that has largely been ignored in policy discussions, and has been entirely within the control of the airlines to manage for over 20 years.
The airlines’ laissez-faire, fire and forget, wing and a prayer approach to real-time flight management leads to unnecessary delays — not because of any ATC shortcoming, but because airlines themselves are not optimizing how their aircraft move through the system.
A smarter approach to air travel efficiency
Instead of privatization, we should be asking how airlines can better manage their ‘ day of ‘ flight operations. Airlines must take a proactive role in reducing unnecessary delays by implementing more precise real-time management, optimizing enroute speeds, and coordinating their flight sequencing to minimize congestion. Who lands first, second, third, etc., based on each airline’s business needs (schedule, gates, connections, maintenance, crew legality, etc.), is critical to the efficiency and profitability of the airline. If airlines improved their ‘ day of ‘ operational efficiency, airlines could significantly reduce delays, cut fuel waste, lower CO₂ emissions, achieve greater efficiency and improve profits—all without the need for massive and disruptive ATC privatization.
Advocates claim that privatizing ATC would modernize air travel and alleviate delays. But shifting control does not address the core problem: the random point overloads of our airports. ATC’s role is to safely separate planes, not to manage the efficiency of the flight or dictate how airlines sequence their aircraft.
The real fix: Systems thinking in aviation
The late Dr. Russell Ackoff, a pioneer in systems thinking at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, once said, ‘ The righter we do the wrong thing, the wronger we become. ‘ This perfectly encapsulates why privatizing ATC is a misguided approach. Altering ATC operations under a privatized model takes us down the wrong path and is hugely disruptive without the desired benefit. But if airline mismanagement remains unaddressed, delays and congestion will persist, regardless of ATC actions.
Simply put, the problem is not with how air traffic is controlled or technology — it’s with how airlines refuse to manage the movement of their aircraft within that system. By focusing on ATC privatization, we will waste years and risk perfecting an inefficient process rather than fixing the actual issue at hand.
At the end of the day, privatizing ATC is not a solution; it’s a distraction. If we truly want to fix America’s aviation system, we need to focus on airline ‘ day of ‘ operations.
R. Michael Baiada is the president of ATH Group, a consultancy that works with airlines. He is a former United Airlines B747-400 captain (retired).