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Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump touts 'rebuilding and modernization' of US air traffic control, blasts Buttigieg for having 'no clue'
President Donald Trump touted his administration's efforts to rebuild and modernize U.S. air traffic control, as the Department of Transportation rolled out its three-year plan to build a brand-new, "state-of-the-art" system to address critical safety needs, while blasting former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for having "no clue." Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday unveiled the proposal, which would replace the current, antiquated Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system and "enhance safety in the sky, reduce delays and unlock the future of air travel." Americans Deserve To Have A 'State-of-the-art' Air Travel System: Sean Duffy "Under President Trump, America is building again," Duffy said Thursday, upon rolling out the new proposal for a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a brand new, state-of-the-art air traffic control system." "Decades of neglect have left us with an outdated system that is showing its age," Duffy said, noting that building the new system "is an economic and national security necessity, and the time to fix it is now." Under the new air traffic control system proposal, the FAA would replace infrastructure, including radar, software, hardware and telecommunications networks, to manage modern travel. Read On The Fox News App Newark Airport Hit With New Delays, Outage Heard On Air Traffic Control Audio Officials say the current system was built "for the past," but the new proposal is to build a system "for the future." The plan would ensure facilities are equipped with better technologies to reduce outages, improve efficiency and reinforce safety. "We're going to be buying a brand-new, state of the art system that will cover the entire world," Trump said earlier Thursday. The plan consists of four infrastructure components: communications, surveillance, automation and facilities, according to the Transportation Department. Officials plan, by 2028, to replace current telecommunications systems with new fiber, wireless and satellite technologies at more than 4,600 sites, 25,000 new radios and 475 new voice switches. By 2027, 618 radars will also be replaced. The plan also would address runway safety by increasing the number of airports with Surface Awareness Initiative to 200. Officials expect this to be complete by 2027. Duffy Blasts Biden, Buttigieg For Ignoring Report About Failing Air Traffic Control System: 'Did Nothing!' The Transportation Department also proposed building six new air traffic control centers for the first time since the 1960s. It also proposes replacing 15 towers and 15 co-located TRACONs, or Terminal Radar Approach Controls, which are facilities that manage air traffic in the airspace surrounding busy airports. Officials also proposed the installation of new modern hardware and software for all air traffic facilities, which would create a common platform system throughout all towers, TRACONs and centers. The proposal also includes the deployment of additional technologies to the Caribbean and Alaska to provide accurate, real-time surveillance and weather information for air traffic control and pilots to ensure "safe and efficient flights for these critical locations." Officials stressed the need for a new air traffic control system, saying the FAA is grappling with a "rapidly growing, complex and demanding aviation sector," as commercial air travel returns to pre-COVID levels. Officials also pointed to novel challenges, including drones and advanced air mobility. Officials said the FAA's current systems "are showing their age," which leads to "delays and inefficiencies." The Department of Transportation stressed that the current National Airspace System is "safe," but stressed that maintaining safety is necessary. The proposal is based on a three-year framework to reinvest in the National Airspace System, and called for an "emergency supplemental funding increase." Astounding New Audio Shows Air Traffic Controllers Reacting To Faa Tech Outage: 'This Is A Serious Issue' "Modernization of the NAS can no longer take 10+ years to complete; it must be done now," the proposal states. "We need an immediate infusion of funding to address critical infrastructure needs." Duffy, on Thursday, said the project would take three to four years. "I need help, I can't do it by myself. And it's going to take the help of the Congress to make that happen," Duffy said. "We need all of the money up front." Duffy said requesting the money in "small tranches" over the course of several years would extend the project. "Politics change, leadership changes, presidents change, interest changes, and it never gets built," Duffy said. "So I'm going to ask the Congress for upfront appropriations to give us all the money. I'll come before the Congress every, every quarter and give them an update of how far we've built, how much money we've spent." Duffy added that if the Department of Transportation is not given the money, it would take "10 to 15 years to build this." "And by the time we get done with it, what we're going to build is already going to be old technology," Duffy said. "So we want to build this in three to four years, and we can do it with the help of Congress." A report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in March shows that the Trump administration inherited an outdated FAA system from the Biden administration with "severe shortcomings" that resulted in dangerous travel conditions across the country. After Trump's return to the White House, the GAO advised the administration that it had made nine recommendations to the FAA under the Biden administration that remain open, and that "urgent attention" is needed to remedy the safety issues left by Biden. GAO said that under the Biden administration the FAA "did not prioritize or establish near-term plans to modernize unsustainable and critical systems." The GAO's 2025 report said the 2023 national airspace prompted an operational risk assessment, which found that of the 138 air traffic control systems, "51 (37%) were deemed unsustainable by FAA and 54 (39%) were potentially unsustainable." Trump, on Thursday, blasted the current "ancient infrastructure," saying that "it's buckling under the weight of more than a billion flying passengers a year and supporting hundreds of billions of dollars." "Pete Buttigieg, who was the secretary of transportation, had no clue what the problem was," Trump said. "He had no clue. Zero. Zero." Trump said Buttigieg "wants to run for president." "I don't think he's going to do too well," Trump said. "The federal government now pays $250 million annually just to keep up the old equipment and keep it running." Meanwhile, Duffy on Thursday said the administration has assembled an "unprecedented coalition of support" from labor to industry, stressing that support is "indicative of just how important it is to this administration to get done what no one else could." Duffy added: "The American people are counting on us, and we won't let them down." The rollout of the proposal comes just days after the FAA issued a ground delay for Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey due to staffing shortages, weather and construction. "Our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our workforce," an FAA statement said. "As Secretary Duffy has said, we must get the best safety technology in the hands of controllers as soon as possible." It also comes after air traffic controller audio was made public from when radar and radio communications with planes were briefly lost at Newark Liberty International Airport on April 28. The April 28 outage lasted roughly 90 seconds. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital, writing that the FAA's operation in Philadelphia had "temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them." FOX Business' Grady Trimble contributed to this report. Original article source: Trump touts 'rebuilding and modernization' of US air traffic control, blasts Buttigieg for having 'no clue'
Epoch Times
08-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Duffy Announces Major Overhaul of America's Air Traffic Control Systems
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on May 8 announced an ambitious plan to overhaul and upgrade the nation's air traffic control systems, fulfilling a key policy goal he has advocated for since assuming his post leading the Department of Transportation earlier this year. During a press conference on Thursday, Duffy unveiled his plans, which include upgrading telecommunication lines to fiber optics, rebuilding some air traffic control towers and Terminal Radar Approach Controls (TRACONs), and implementing new radios in towers to 'communicate between air traffic controllers and with airplanes.' 'We're going to rebuild some centers, not all of them, but we're going to rebuild a few of them that need to be rebuilt,' Duffy said. TRACONs are a type of FAA facility used for handling the safe separation of planes and other aircraft within the airspace around airports. The transportation secretary said the plans also include new ground radar sensors on airport tarmacs. 'Our air traffic controllers, who are in the tower, are looking out with binoculars to see airplanes. If it's cloudy or rainy, the weather's bad, it becomes very challenging. We want to have all the tools so they can see where aircraft are at the airport on their screens on their terminals,' Duffy said. Related Stories 5/6/2025 3/12/2025 The Transportation Department will also introduce a new flight management system to improve airspace efficiency and allow airlines to better manage their flight, as well as new hardware, software, and equipment for controllers to overhaul and upgrade America's air traffic control, he added. 'I can't just announce it to you and say it's going to happen in three to four years. I need help. I can't do it by myself, and it's going to take the help of Congress to make that happen,' Duffy said. 'To do it in three or four years, we need all of the money up front.' Duffy said the effort would be challenging, but suggested the administration 'absolutely can do it.' 'I think our country, our people, those who use the airspace, they deserve this moment in time to actually deliver an air traffic control system that's going to keep them safe,' he said. 'I'm committed to it. The president's committed to it. I think the Congress is going to be committed to it.' Incidents Lead to a Call for Upgrades When an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with a commercial plane over Washington in late January, Duffy called for upgrades to America's antiquated air traffic control technology, which in some places uses computer and radar systems that are decades old. On April 28, air traffic controllers lost contact with all planes for 30 seconds near Newark Liberty International Airport, after a critical communication line went dark and its backup system failed to activate. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the union representing air traffic controllers, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that several controllers at the Philadelphia TRACON, who cover Newark Airport arrivals and departures, have 'taken time off to recover from the stress of multiple recent outages.' 'While we cannot quickly replace them due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace,' the FAA said in a statement to The Epoch Times. The agency has slowed air traffic to Newark, and Duffy said the two communication systems that failed have since been fixed. On May 5, Duffy 'We are going to radically transform the way air traffic control looks,' Duffy told Fox News. 'We're going to build a brand new air traffic control system—from new telecom to new radars to new infrastructure. We're bringing on new air traffic controllers. 'This has been a problem in the decades coming, and we're going to fix it.' Upgrades to Philadelphia While speaking with reporters outside the White House on May 7, Duffy said America's antiquated air traffic control systems, which use technology that is between 25 to 50 years old, are not a 'new problem.' 'We've known this problem has existed,' Duffy said. 'There's been multiple GAO reports over the last four years saying you have real problems with air traffic control, and you should do something with it before it actually fails.' Duffy said that while the Trump administration loves efficiency, safety is its mission. He also mentioned commencing work on a new communication system at Newark Airport following last week's event. 'So many of you might know that Newark is controlled out of the Philly TRACON. It moved from New York to Philly last summer,' Duffy said. 'I would argue they probably should have built the whole new facility in Philadelphia before they moved it. That's not what happened. So we are going to build it now.' Duffy said estimates this week suggested it would take six to eight months to complete. 'I feel pretty good right now. I don't want to overpromise [or] underdeliver, but I feel pretty good that we can get that built by this summer,' he said. 'We are going to build a brand new system for all of you and your families and the American people that the president has said yes to.'
