When Obama passed the economic stimulus package one thing that was missed was replacing the traffic control system that has become somewhat of an antique. The industry leaders are in a budget battle to replace the system to save themselves and others money.  If a new system is designed that will allow planes to fly in straight lines as opposed to the current twisted routes that are composed just to keep the planes on the ground-based navigated track.  Doing so would save the economy over forty billion a year in fuel and labor costs.  The savings could happen as soon as 2012 but the system requires twenty billion dollars.

 An ongoing concern has been how to pay for a system that will cost around twenty billion for new equipment and training.  Some airlines have spent money updating their planes to be ready for the new system known as NextGen.  NextGen would replace a system that dates to the 1950s when the air traffic control radar sites began.  The sites are mostly along paths planes already fly.  However in certain examples like flying from Texas to the Northeast the planes will fly along the South and then up the coast after the mountains.  The new system will save the economy countless amounts of money and is an ongoing prospective investment for the government.