United CEO Kirby Says Private Jet Lobby Is Biggest Obstacle to ATC Modernization
Why It MattersThe remark puts ATC funding and user-fee allocation at the center of a fight between scheduled airlines and business aviation, with congestion at capacity-constrained airports as the argument for change.
What happened
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said private jets are the biggest impediment to modernizing the U.S. air traffic control system, speaking in an interview on the Cheeky Pint podcast. His comments on private jets begin about 22 minutes into the episode.
Kirby said he believes a privatized ATC system could solve congestion problems, but that privatizing the FAA and air traffic control is politically controversial. "It's the kind of thing that private enterprise I think could get done in two to three years," he said, adding that several political groups oppose the idea, "the biggest being private jets." He said he is not advocating ATC privatization because it is so politically charged.
Kirby said airlines pay 100 percent of the cost of air traffic control. "Essentially it's free to fly private jets and they're a really powerful lobby and I think that's probably the biggest impediment to modernizing the FAA," he said.
He said the current administration understands the issues and wants to modernize ATC as soon as possible, but is constrained by the appropriations process. Kirby also warned that airports are reaching capacity because of ATC constraints, which will cap the number of flights across the system.
Industry impact & what to watch
The argument turns on who funds the air traffic system. Airlines contribute through ticket-based taxes, while much of business aviation is funded differently, and Kirby's framing, that one group carries the full cost while another flies free, is a long-standing line of dispute between the two segments. His claim is one executive's position, and the business aviation side has not been heard in this account.
For private operators, FBOs and charter brokers, the exposure is regulatory rather than operational: any reform that moves ATC funding toward usage-based fees would change the cost of each flight. Kirby himself said he is not pushing privatization, so his remarks read as pressure on the funding debate rather than a concrete proposal.
The nearer-term constraint he named is the appropriations process, which is where the administration's stated wish to modernize ATC has to be funded. Congressional appropriations language on ATC is the place where this dispute would first become visible.
