Despite widespread support to create a nongovernmental user-funded entity for air traffic control, including most recently by the Wall Street Journal editorial board, narrow interests in Washington continue to inhibit this much needed “public-private partnership.” The rationale for supporting public largesse rather than private-sector ingenuity varies, but underlying most obstruction is the dumbfounding belief that government works best.

This belief is especially evident when it comes to infrastructure, even though President Trump, who has consistently reaffirmed his commitment to such investments, supports expansion of PPPs. The establishment thinking goes that because infrastructure is a federal priority, it must only be handled by government bureaucrats. Never mind the fact that, in the case of ATC reform, dozens of countries deploy a PPP-style approach where daily air traffic control is handled by non-government entities supported by user charges while the government focuses chiefly on safety. Free-market groups such as my organization, the National Taxpayers Union, have backed this approach as well.