Trump unveils plan to upgrade air traffic control system

United States President Donald Trump derided America's air traffic control systems on Monday as "antiquated", "horrible" and in urgent need of modernisation, while also making an apparent jibe at former president Barack Obama.

The President railed against previous efforts by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to upgrade air traffic control and offered few other details about his promised $1tn infrastructure programme, The Guardian reports.

"At a time when every passenger has GPS technology in their pockets, our air traffic control system still runs on radar and ground-based radio systems that they don't even make anymore, they can't even fix anymore, and many controllers must use slips of paper to track our thousands and thousands of planes that are up in the air," he said.

Under the new plan, the FAA would focus on safety while a separate not-for-profit entity would ensure route efficiency, timely service and a reduction in delays.

"At its core, our new plan will dramatically improve America's air traffic control system by turning it over to a self-financing, nonprofit organisation. This new entity will not need taxpayer money, which is very shocking when people hear that. They don't hear that too often," he said.

"The previous administration spent over $7bn trying to upgrade the system, and totally failed. Honestly, they didn't know what the hell they were doing. A total waste of money - $7b-plus-plus," Trump said, while taking at a swipe at the Obama administration.

Trump plans a series of events this coming week to highlight his $1tn effort to modernise roads, bridges, airports and railways. The White House officials said the new entity would be overseen by a 13-member board that will include representatives from the airline industry, unions, general aviation, airports and other sectors.