(Updates with executives attending, details)
By Alana Wise and David Shepardson
NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) - U.S. aviation executives will discuss the industry's aging airports and air traffic control reform when they meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The White House meeting comes at a time of heightened tension within the industry after U.S. carriers raised concerns about ongoing trade agreements with foreign carriers. Trump has vowed to renegotiate or scrap trade deals he sees as unfair between the United States and other countries.
A source told Reuters the airlines expect last month's executive order barring travel from seven Muslim-majority countries may come up and if so, the carriers in attendance would stress the need for better coordination and planning ahead of announcing such an order instead of having it sprung on them, the source said.
The session will include reforming the air traffic control system, Transportation Security Administration issues, user fees and regulatory burdens, a White House official told Reuters.
The expected participants include the chief executives of Delta Air Lines Inc, JetBlue Airways Corp, United Continental Holdings Inc, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc, Alaska Airlines and trade group Airlines for America, along with top officials from FedEx Corp and United Parcel Service Inc, the official said.
Also expected to attend are airport directors from Los Angeles, Chicago, Tampa, Washington, Buffalo, Nashville and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
American Airlines Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker, who called Trump's executive order on travel "divisive," is unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict with a conference he is hosting, company spokesman Matt Miller said.
Other industry executives have spoken out against the temporary travel ban saying it could hurt the industry and their employees.
During the 2016 election race Trump campaigned on improving U.S. infrastructure, talking about a $1 trillion infrastructure plan over a decade.
"Our airports are like from a third world country," Trump said at a presidential debate in September. "You land at LaGuardia, you land at Kennedy, you land at LAX, you land at Newark, and you come in from Dubai and Qatar and you see these incredible - you come in from China, you see these incredible airports, and you land - we've become a third world country."
OPEN SKIES
Heads of the three largest U.S. passenger carriers - American Airlines Group Inc, United and Delta - have sought to pressure the new administration into denouncing U.S. Open Skies agreements with the three major Middle Eastern carriers, which they accuse of having been unfairly subsidized by their governments.