Trumps corporate infrastructure giveaway begins with air trafficcontrol

Donald Trump announced the first part of his infrastructure plan on Monday, which would privatize the air control system. This week he plans to roll out the rest of his infrastructure agenda, which he said would invest $1 trillion in infrastructure.

The administration has released very few details about how it plans to invest in waterways and roads, and all of Trump’s policy statements have been removed from his campaign website. But if his air traffic control announcement is any indication of where the rest of his infrastructure plan is headed, it will be a massive giveaway to corporations and a departure from past infrastructure programs.

President Donald Trump hailed the plan on Monday and claimed it would be a “huge economic boost” for the country, without explaining how that would be the case. Under his plan, air traffic control would be turned over to a non-profit entity that would initially rely on loans.

“Under this new plan, the Federal Aviation Administration will focus firmly on what it does best: safety,” said Trump. “A separate nonprofit entity would be in charge of route to efficiency, timely service and a long-awaited reduction in delays.”

Trump then signed a list of air traffic control principles, in a sort of pantomime of a bill signing.

Getting to a real-life bill signing could be difficult, as some republican lawmakers are already dissenting from the proposal. Lawmakers from states that rely on general aviation airports are concerned that people in rural districts would be forced to pay more under the new system, because it would give commercial airlines greater influence. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) said they oppose the move to privatize air traffic control.

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-air-traffic-control-privatization-12556f2fb56e