Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on March 11 that he would go to Congress to request funding for a complete overhaul and upgrade of the air traffic control system of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“We’re using floppy disks in our system. We have headphone jacks that we’re plugging and unplugging. Think back to the 1980s, if you were even alive. That’s the system that we’re using for air traffic control,” Duffy said.
“It’s old, but it’s safe, but ... looking forward, we don’t want to lose lives because we have a break in the system, so it has to be upgraded, and it’s going to take money.”
Duffy said the Transportation Department and FAA have long promised upgrades that have stalled, but he suggested that a total upgrade could be done within four years to create a “brand-new air traffic control system, gold plated, envy of the world.”
He called for using fiber optic cables for data, wireless and satellite systems, and “state-of-the-art, brand-new radar.”
The FAA will also begin using artificial intelligence tools to find other highly congested airspace nationwide, such as Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, to isolate potential safety hazards and upgrade protocols to avoid any similar incidents moving forward.
Duffy also suggested giving air traffic controllers ground radar sensors so they can directly “see where airplanes are at and better control their movements.”
The secretary acknowledged how much these upgrades would cost during a time when the Trump administration is prioritizing cost-cutting and slashing funding across all federal agencies. However, the two efforts can proceed in tandem, he said.
“We can go on a diet, but that doesn’t mean we don’t see points that need investment, and this is a place that we need investment,” Duffy said.
“I’m gonna share it with the Congress, get their feedback, let them put their fingerprints on it, but then I’m gonna come back, and I’m gonna ask the Congress for all the money up-front so we can expedite this process of building out this system.”
He said past efforts by Congress to fund these upgrades have failed but that an overhaul is necessary to honor the lives lost in the deadliest U.S. air crash in 20 years and to prevent other families from having to “go through the pain and anguish of losing a loved one” like those families had to go through.
That would require Congress to fund a full overhaul, not a “partial” upgrade, Duffy noted.
“We are going to give you a brand-new system, the best of the best, state of the art,” he said. “I think the American people want it, and I think the Congress wants it, and I’m going to give them a plan that will show that we can do it.”
The Transportation Department will bring in new engineers and pursue contracts, including for fiber optic data cables, such that the FAA is put at the front of the customer line with its chosen contractors so they do the FAA’s work first, according to Duffy.
He’s also consulting with Southwest Airlines, which recently completed a two-year upgrade of its systems to analyze what worked and what failed.
“The whole industry is cheering us on to make this happen,” he said. “This is a moment in time [when] we can ... fix a system that was broken and, again, do it quickly.”
Duffy noted that the Transportation Department will unveil a full plan with “a price tag on it” within the next two weeks.
“We’re all going to sit down and do a great computerized system for our control towers—brand-new, not pieced together, obsolete,” he said.
