645. Is the Air Traffic Control System Broken?

Flying in the U.S. is still exceptionally safe, but the system relies on outdated tech and is under tremendous strain. Six experts tell us how it got this way and how it can (maybe) be fixed. (Part one of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Dorothy Robyn, senior fellow at I.T.I.F.
  • Ed Bastian, C.E.O. of Delta Airlines.
  • John Strong, professor of finance and economics at the William and Mary School of Business.
  • Kenneth Levin, retired air traffic controller.
  • PollyTrottenberg, former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

• RESOURCES:
  • "BrandNew Air Traffic Control System Plan," (Federal Aviation Administration, 2025).
  • TheAir Traffic Controller Workforce Imperative: Staffing Models and Their Implementation to Ensure Safe and Efficient Airspace Operations, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2025).
  • "AnnualAviation Infrastructure Report: 2025,"by Marc Scribner (Reason Foundation, 2025).
  • "Newair traffic academy died in Congress despite dire need for more staff," by Lori Aratani (The Washington Post, 2025).
  • "TheReal Problem With the FAA," by Dorothy Robyn (The Atlantic, 2025).
  • "HowMuch Do Jet Aircraft Pay into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund to Fly from Dallas to D.C.?" by Ann Henebery, (Eno Center for Transportation, 2018).
  • Managing the Skies, by John Strong and Clinton Oster (2016).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Freakonomics Radio Takes to the Skies," series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "In Praise of Maintenance," by Freakonomics Radio (2016).