Trump once championed FAA privatization. Now the idea appears to be off the table

Published June 9, 2025 8:00am ET



Once a signature initiative of President Donald Trump’s first term, the push to privatize the U.S. air traffic control system has all but disappeared from his agenda, even as aviation safety concerns mount.

In 2017, Trump proposed privatizing the U.S. air traffic control system by transferring it from the Federal Aviation Administration to a nonprofit corporation, a plan that never went anywhere.

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