Trump official to unveil ambitious US air traffic control upgrade

Faced with fresh flight safety problems at a major US airport, the Trump administration is set Thursday to unveil a modernized air traffic control system.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is planning a news conference in Washington to announce an upgrade billed as a dramatic break from the “band-aid” fixes of past administrations.

A massive overhaul of the US air traffic control system could cost tens of billions of dollars.

Such a policy would need to win congressional approval at a time when Trump’s administration is also seeking deep spending cuts to finance tax cuts.

The union for air traffic controllers has complained of obsolete buildings containing radar technology that is no longer manufactured and computers with floppy disks last seen in the 20th century.

Duffy’s agency is facing scrutiny after an April 28 incident at Newark Liberty International Airport in which air traffic officials stationed in nearby Philadelphia were unable to connect with planes on radar and through radio for 90 seconds.

The troubles at one of the busiest US airports follow a January 29 midair collision near Washington’s Reagan National Airport involving a passenger jet and a military helicopter, the first major US commercial crash since 2009.

Duffy, who has blamed his predecessor in the Biden administration for recent problems, talked up the plan at an April 30 Cabinet meeting with Trump, who seemed to favor a lead contractor.

“We’re going to have one, great big beautiful contractor, whether it’s maybe Raytheon, maybe IBM,” Trump said. “You put one in charge. They’re very big, very powerful monetarily, and they give you a guarantee, and they hook up everything. They do every single thing.”

Duffy has so far not released details about the plan. A Department of Transportation advisory touted Thursday’s event as “ushering in a golden age of transportation.”

Newark in focus

On Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it has been slowing arrivals and departures at Newark after the system outage.

Other steps included adding more backup equipment and bolstering air traffic controller staffing, the FAA said.

While Newark’s staffing issues are the norm across the network, the incident highlights unique problems at the airport, said Michael McCormick, a former FAA control tower manager who is now associate professor at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University.

McCormick said the telecommunications failures stem from the FAA’s 2024 relocation of Newark air traffic staff from Long Island to Philadelphia.

Even with the loss of contact with air traffic staff, pilots would have still been able to safely fly during the outage because of on-board technology that tracks other planes, McCormick said.

“There’s still backup,” McCormick said. “It’s not optimal.”

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