There is an obvious solution to that problem.
It's been up to the airlines since 1978 to set their flight schedules. And since everyone wants to leave in the morning and return in the evening, the nation's airspace is *packed* during those hours and underutilized during off-hours.
There's a solution to that problem that would help just about everyone.
There should be an auction of takeoff and landing slots, run by the FAA or some other national authority, with a reasonable fraction reserved for smaller carriers, GA, etc.
If business travelers want to leave at 7:30 and come back at 5:30, then companies should be willing to pay extra for those time slots. If nobody wants to fly at noon, make it cheaper so that people will.
As long as its done in a way that is fair (e.g. don't let MegaGlobal Airlines buy up all the prime slots and sit on them, don't let the majors collude to keep out low priced carriers, etc.), then just about everyone benefits. People who need to be there, pay more. People who are flexible, pay less. The system doesn't have to be designed to handle tremendous loads for 10% of the day. Airlines get more use out of their hardware. Delays should go down, and more people would be willing to fly.
I'm sure Adam Smith and Alfred Kahn would approve.
What's the downside?
Cheers,
Scott.