Alright so here’s the idea. Make drone only passenger airports. Manage air traffic control with software only. Put aircraft at different altitudes wherever new and legacy flight paths intersect.

Let antiquated airports age and die out because air traffic control and an aging fleet of global aircraft will never be able to update air traffic control.

I make rockets IRL.
I reserve the right to shamelessly recast for degen reasons. 
Soldier once upon a time.

In the list of jobs that humans should effectively outsource to AI, air traffic control is like #2, just barely behind “guy who swims under Chernobyl to turn a valve and save Western Europe.”

“Well we can just upgrade existing aircraft to…” 

No. Imagine telling every poor person in your country they need to pay out of pocket to hire a mechanic to update the safety features of their car. Now imagine they’re nations with missiles that control their own airspace and trade and shit. Not happening.

Automated (mode of transportation) will never be trusted side by side with legacy systems. Autopilot cars will eventually have their own lanes and roads, with low speed interfaces with legacy vehicles. I don’t make the rules. I just wait decades while people figure them out.