by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 5:07 PM ET, Fri September 8, 2017
A new report is questioning President Trump's criticism about the current state of the nation's air traffic control system.
A Government Accountability Office report requested by lawmakers showed that efforts to upgrade the U.S. air-traffic system are on budget and flight efficiency is steadily improving.
The Federal Aviation Administration has been incrementally implementing what's known as the Next Generation Air Transportation System (also called NextGen) and has taken various actions to address any implementation challenges.
In addition, thanks to NextGen, surface traffic operations at 39 of the country's 40 busiest airports have been enhanced through electronic communications that clear planes for departure and through technology that expedites clearances and reduces errors.
These revelations come as the House is preparing to debate a bill that would separate the air-traffic system from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Bloomberg.
"If Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration are serious about improving the air traffic control system, they should abandon their risky privatization proposal and get to work to pass a bill that will provide a stable and predictable funding stream for our aviation system," Representative Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat, said in a statement.
The GAO report shows the existing system is performing well, undercutting Trump's arguments for change.
In June, Trump announced he would like to see air-traffic control privatized, complaining that the FAA wasted $7 billion on new air-traffic technology and called the current system "a total waste of money."
[READMORE]READ MORE: Trump Announces Plan to Privatize Air Traffic Control[/READMORE]
New technology, however, is allowing airliners to fly more precise routes into major cities and has saved airlines millions of dollars in fuel, according to the newly released report.
Even the private-plane lobby has argued that the existing system has performed well and there's no need to create a private air-traffic organization, according to Bloomberg.
"NextGen is on track and today's GAO report shows it is also on budget," Representative Rick Larsen, a Washington Democrat said according to Bloomberg. "Plans to privatize the nation's air traffic control system threaten the progress made by NextGen and threaten to derail a comprehensive, long-term FAA bill along with it."
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