House panel takes up privatizing air traffic control

Congressional Republicans are pushing an effort to partially privatize the nation’s air traffic control system, arguing that the existing system run by the Federal Aviation Administration uses outdated technology and the agency has repeatedly failed to modernize.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., said Wednesday that he would make moving air traffic control from the government to a private, nonprofit entity a key part of the upcoming FAA reauthorization bill.