OMAHA, Neb. -- Nearly two-thirds of travelers said air travel has gotten worse over the past year, according to a new survey from the University of Nebraska-Omaha Aviation Institute.

Of 5,000 travelers who responded to the AQR Frequent Flyer Survey, 63 percent said air travel has gotten worse over the past year.

"We can't necessarily fix all of these problems and declines at the same time, but let's take one," said UNO's Dr. Brent Bowen. "Let's take one of the major factors, fix it over a couple of years and then move on to another."

A trade group for the nation's airlines defended the industry, saying airlines are doing everything they can to make sure flights arrive on time. The Air Transport Association said that air traffic control systems haven't been modernized to meet to demands.

"Airlines do everything they can to have their flights arrive on time," the ATA said in an e-mail to KETV.com. "On-time performance is central to smooth connections, keeping customers and their baggage in the right place at the right time, customer satisfaction and, with ever more importance, fuel efficiency. Unfortunately, our nation's air traffic control system has not been modernized to meet today's level of consumer demand nor to take advantage of new technologies. That failure drives not only delays but, not surprisingly, customer and airline frustration.

"At the same time, a substantial amount of spending on airports fails to maximize a return on investment with real capacity improvements. The best way to address customer service concerns would be for the government to focus on the cause -- not the symptoms -- and to move aggressively to really get at the root cause of delays and assure that every aviation tax dollar spent maximizes capacity for the people paying those taxes. The airlines work every day to advance that agenda."