Via Wired, I’m glad to see the FAA putting out a fairly accessible video explaining the benefits of NextGen. This is a much-needed transformation of air traffic control that offers much-improved air travel. However, it is unlikely to be implemented on time or on-budget as long as the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization remains part of a tax-funded bureaucracy, held hostage to the federal budget process. Every leading western nation except the United States has “commercialized” its ATC system over the past 20 years, allowing it to finance major modifications by going to the bond market, and letting it make commercial decisions without political interference. We should do likewise in this country.