As someone who rarely flies when he isn’t either drunk or gripping the set in terror – yes, I have a Ph.D. in Astrophysics; what’s your point? — this scares the hell out of me.

You often need a crisis, real or imagined, to get major policy changes enacted. There are two looming challenges in our backwards and bureaucratic air traffic control system that might nudge Congress toward reform. The first is that the government system is having a hard time keeping up with the continued growth in air travel.

The second, as Government Executive magazine reports today, is that a large group of controllers are nearing retirement and the government might have a hard time finding replacements.

Privatizing sounds like a good idea. I’d sooner trust Google to guide my plane in than I’d trust the Post Office — even thought they did deliver Deathly Hallows on time.