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.
Duffy said plans 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 at a press conference.
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.
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 noted.
“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.”
He said the effort would be challenging but suggested that 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,” Duffy said.
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 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.
“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.
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,” he 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,” he 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 that 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.”
