Trump Admin Proposes Brand New Air Traffic Control System To Enhance Safety, 'unlock The Future Of Air Travel'

The Trump management connected Thursday rolled retired its three-year scheme to build a brand-new, "state-of-the-art" aerial postulation power strategy to reside captious information needs — replacing core infrastructure and telecommunications networks to "unlock nan early of aerial travel."  

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled nan connection Thursday, which would switch nan current, antiquated Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strategy and "enhance information successful nan sky, trim delays and unlock nan early of aerial travel." 

AMERICANS DESERVE TO HAVE A 'STATE-OF-THE-ART' AIR TRAVEL SYSTEM: SEAN DUFFY

"Under President Trump, America is building again," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday, upon rolling retired nan caller connection for a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a marque new, state-of-the-art aerial postulation power system." 

"Decades of neglect person near america pinch an outdated strategy that is showing its age," Duffy said, noting that building nan caller strategy "is an economical and nationalist information necessity, and nan clip to hole it is now."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy during an executive bid signing successful nan Oval Office of nan White House successful Washington, D.C., connected Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (Getty Images)

Under nan caller aerial postulation power strategy proposal, nan FAA would switch infrastructure, for illustration radar, software, hardware and telecommunications networks to negociate modern travel. 

NEWARK AIRPORT HIT WITH NEW DELAYS, OUTAGE HEARD ON AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AUDIO

Officials opportunity nan existent strategy is 1 "build for nan past," but nan caller connection is to build a strategy "for nan future." 

The scheme would guarantee accommodation are equipped pinch amended technologies to trim outages, amended efficiency, and reenforce safety. 

"We're going to beryllium buying a brand-new, authorities of nan creation strategy that will screen nan full world," President Trump said earlier Thursday. 

According to nan Transportation Department, nan scheme consists of 4 infrastructure components: Communications, Surveillance, Automation and Facilities. 

File - A Southwest level lands astatine Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport successful Arlington, Va., Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. A machine outage astatine nan Federal Aviation Administration brought flights to a standstill crossed nan U.S. connected Wednesday, pinch hundreds of delays quickly cascading done nan strategy astatine airports nationwide.   ((AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File))

Officials plan, by 2028, to switch current, antiquated telecommunications systems pinch caller fiber, wireless and outer technologies astatine much than 4,600 sites; 25,000 caller radios, and 475 caller sound switches. 618 radars will besides beryllium replaced by 2027. 

The scheme would besides reside runway information by expanding nan number of airports pinch Surface Awareness Initiative to 200. Officials expect this to beryllium complete by 2027. 

DUFFY BLASTS BIDEN, BUTTIGIEG FOR IGNORING REPORT ABOUT FAILING AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM: 'DID NOTHING!'

The Transportation Department besides projected building six caller aerial postulation power centers for nan first clip since nan 1960s. It besides proposes replacing 15 towers and 15 co-located TRACONs, aliases Terminal Radar Approach Controls, which are accommodation that negociate aerial postulation successful nan airspace surrounding engaged airports. 

Officials besides projected nan installation of caller modern hardware and package for each aerial postulation facilities, which would create a communal level strategy passim each towers, TRACONs and centers. 

The connection besides includes nan deployment of further technologies to nan Caribbean and Alaska to supply accurate, real-time surveillance and upwind accusation for aerial postulation power and pilots to guarantee "safe and businesslike flights for these captious locations." 

Officials stressed nan request for a caller aerial postulation power system, saying nan FAA is grappling pinch a "rapidly growing, analyzable and demanding aviation sector," arsenic commercialized aerial recreation returns to pre-COVID levels. Officials besides pointed to caller challenges including drones and precocious aerial mobility. 

Officials said that nan FAAs existent systems "are showing their age," which leads to "delays and inefficiencies." 

The Department of Transportation, though, stressed that nan National Airspace System is "safe," but stressed that maintaining nan information is necessary. 

The connection is based connected a 3-year model to reinvest successful nan National Airspace System, and called for an "emergency supplemental backing increase." 

ASTOUNDING NEW AUDIO SHOWS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS REACTING TO FAA TECH OUTAGE: 'THIS IS A SERIOUS ISSUE'

"Modernization of nan NAS tin nary longer return 10+ years to complete; it must beryllium done now," nan connection states. "We request an contiguous infusion of backing to reside captious infrastructure needs." 

A study issued by nan Government Accountability Office (GAO) successful March shows that nan Trump management inherited an outdated FAA strategy from nan Biden management pinch "severe shortcomings" that resulted successful vulnerable recreation conditions crossed nan country.

After Trump’s return to nan White House, GAO advised nan management that it had made 9 recommendations to nan FAA nether nan Biden management that stay open, and that "urgent attention" is needed to remedy nan information issues near by Biden.

GAO said that nether nan Biden management nan FAA "did not prioritize aliases found near-term plans to modernize unsustainable and captious systems."

A motion marks nan entranceway to nan FAA office successful Washington DC connected October 7, 2024.  (J. David Ake/Getty Images)

The GAO’s 2025 study said nan 2023 nationalist airspace prompted an operational consequence assessment, which recovered that of nan 138 aerial postulation power systems, "51 (37%) were deemed unsustainable by FAA and 54 (39%) were perchance unsustainable."

Meanwhile, Secretary Duffy connected Thursday said that nan management has assembled an "unprecedented conjugation of support" from labour to industry, stressing that support is "indicative of conscionable really important it is to this management to get done what nary 1 other could."  

Duffy added: "The American group are counting connected us, and we won’t fto them down."

The rotation retired of nan connection comes conscionable days aft nan FAA issued a crushed hold for Newark Liberty International Airport successful New Jersey owed to staffing shortages, upwind and construction.

"Our antiquated aerial postulation power strategy is affecting our workforce," an FAA connection said. "As Secretary Duffy has said, we must get nan champion information exertion successful nan hands of controllers arsenic soon arsenic possible."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

It besides comes aft aerial postulation controller audio was made nationalist from erstwhile radar and power communications pinch planes were concisely mislaid astatine Newark Airport connected April 28. 

The April 28 outage lasted astir 90 seconds. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association confirmed nan incident to Fox News Digital, penning that nan Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s cognition successful Philadelphia had "temporarily mislaid radar and communications pinch nan craft nether their control, incapable to see, hear, aliases talk to them."

Fox Business' Grady Trimble contributed to this report.