Flight delays caused by the government are actually down, according to U.S. data. While FAA-caused delays have gradually declined, those triggered by the airlines’ own actions have gone up as a percentage of total late flights, according to the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

"The performance of the system is as good as it’s ever been," said John Hansman, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s International Center for Air Transportation who also serves as an adviser to FAA. "The level of traffic is high. The delays are down compared to historic standards. Generally our fuel efficiency is good."

Shuster’s Bill

Trump’s air-traffic control proposal is based largely on legislation introduced in 2016 by Representative Bill Shuster, the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Trump Monday signed a decision memo, and sent a letter to Congress on the principles in his air-traffic control plan at the White House. It would create a new user fee on aircraft using the system to replace current taxes on aviation fuel and airline tickets.

Critics of the air-traffic plan have said it would jeopardize small airports by giving too much power to airlines and large hubs.

While the FAA is already years into a technology upgrade known as NextGen, the efficiency improvements it promises can be better accomplished outside of direct government control, say backers of the White House plan. The FAA would continue to monitor safety and write air-traffic regulations under the plan.

The proposal is opposed by private-plane groups, who say they don’t want to pay a user fee for flying.

“We applaud President Trump’s calls to invest and improve our nation’s infrastructure including our airports,” said Mark Baker, CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, in an emailed statement. “However, the U.S. has a very safe air traffic system today and we don’t hear complaints from our nearly 350,000 members about it.”

About 60 countries, including Canada and the U.K., have gone to similar semi-private management of their air-traffic networks.