Airline CEOs Are Optimistic Following Talk With President Trump
Photo Credit: Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines, appearing at the White House following a meeting with President Donald J. Trump alongside other aviation leaders. Fox Business News
Skift Take
Airline and airport executives must be excited to have the support of President Trump when it comes to airport modernization and air traffic control reforms. Trump's own comments as reported in the meeting, however, lay bare how little he truly knows about the complex landscape of aviation.
Following a breakfast meeting with President Trump at the White House this morning, airline and airport executives voiced optimism for the potential of infrastructure improvements and relaxed regulations to improve the state of air travel in the United States.
[Editor's note: Updated with statement from FAA, below]
Air traffic control problems, delays, excessive regulations, and foreign competition were all subjects of conversation in the meeting.
Attendees included Oscar Munoz, CEO of United Airlines; Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Airlines; Gary C. Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines; Brad Tilden, CEO of Alaska Air Group; the heads of Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Chicago airports; and the heads of various shipping companies like UPS and Atlas Air.
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker did not attend due to a conflict stemming from an American Airlines management meeting which had already been planned.
Southwest's Kelly spoke first and said the top priority for helping airlines would be to "modernize the air traffic control system" noting that money spent on the system has not helped improve it in the past.
Characteristically, Trump pledged his support for making U.S. airports the best in the world again. Trump himself was an owner of TAG Air, a private jet charter company whose jets he used during his campaign.
Trump said the Federal Aviation Administration would be more effective if run by a pilot instead of a bureaucrat. "I have a pilot who's a re
