An “all-brand-new” air traffic control (ATC) system might be coming to the USA.
That is according to US President Donald Trump, who joined transportation secretary Sean Duffy on 8 May to reveal details of a project to completely overhaul the USA’s ATC system in as little as four years. The project calls for building new ATC facilities and replacing outdated infrastructure with modern technology.
It also enjoys wide support from leaders across the aviation industry, from manufacturers to airlines, lawmakers to safety investigators.
“We are going to go all-brand-new,” says Trump, adding that the effort will be a “complete rebuilding and modernisation of America’s air traffic control system”.
”We are beginning the process of fully replacing the technology at more than 4,600 air traffic control sites and building six new state-of-the-art air traffic control coordination centres,” Trump adds.
Trump and Duffy have for weeks discussed their intention to overhaul ATC.
But they revealed more details during an 8 May event in Washington, DC.
It was attended by lawmakers, CEOs of several US airlines, representatives from industry and labour groups, the USA’s top transportation safety investigator, and relatives of passengers who died when a PSA Airlines regional jet crashed near Ronald Reagan Washington National airport in January.
“The FAA is going to undertake an initiative that has never been done before,” says Duffy. “We are going to do this in three to four years.”
During the event, President Trump spoke via cell phone, saying he expects the US government will award a single contract to a company that will manage the project. He also asks for recommendations of firms up to the task.
“The ancient infrastructure is buckling,” Trump says. “We’d like to give out one big beautiful contract, where they are responsible for everything from digging ditches to the most-complicated stuff”.
Numerous industry leaders spoke at the event, making clear ATC overhaul has widespread support from disparate groups.
“This plan from President Trump and secretary Duffy is absolutely the best opportunity we’ve had in decades to do something about our outdated air traffic control infrastructure and build a best-in-class system,” says American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom, who spoke after Duffy.
“I feel like we have turned a corner,” adds Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, which has suffered immense operational disruptions at Newark in recent days due partly to ATC struggles.
“It’s wonderful that there is such a cross-section of the aviation industry… to support this change,” says Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan. “I’ve never seen this level of coming together to address a problem.”
The chiefs of the National Business Travel Association, Air Line Pilots Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Regional Airline Association and other groups also spoke, expressing their support.
Robin Hayes, CEO of Airbus in the Americas and former chief of JetBlue Airways, calls the ATC plan “a historic opportunity to fix decades of neglect and under-investment”. Boeing Global Services CEO Chris Raymond expressed support.
National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy welcomed the effort, saying the existing ATC system “poses an untenable risk”.
Duffy says the modernisation plan will involving rebuilding some ATC towers, control centres and Terminal Radar Approach Control Facilities.
“We are going to have new telecom. New fibre… We are going to have brand new radios in our towers,” Duffy says. “We are going to have new radar for the ground and new sensors on our tarmacs.”
“All the front-facing equipment for controllers, all the back-end systems for controllers – all brand new. All new hardware. All new software,” he adds.
The plan also calls for creating a “new flight management system” that will support flights of future air taxies – the electric vertical take-off and vertical landing aircraft now under development by numerous firms.
Duffy says completing the project within four years will require Congress to approve funding, adding, “I am going to ask the Congress for upfront appropriation”.
Upfront funding would be a change from the FAA’s typical funding structure. The agency mostly receives money in tranches approved periodically by Congress. But that method leaves long-term FAA projects subject to shifting political priorities, critics say.
Duffy also says ATC modernisation will require “permitting reform”, adding that existing “regulations around permitting” could significantly delay progress.
A least one bill to fund FAA modernisations is already working through the US House of Representatives. That bill would set aside $12.5 billion for such work.
