Duffy: The ATC system “Envy of the World” could be installed within 3 years

During a cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump and other employees at a high level, Duffy questioned why the system’s upgrades are largely agreed with the stakeholders who had used outdated technology earlier.

“The problem is in the government, it takes far too long,” said Duffy. “Therefore, technology changes, money changes and administrations change. We have to do this quickly, which is why we need the partnership from the congress to give ourselves the money in advance.”

The transport secretary added: “Our towers are in operation and keep aircraft in the air. So we have to choreograph. But we can do it in a short time.”

Duffy is expected to release the official Ministry of Transport this week, Reuters reported on Friday. Trump was reportedly informed and offered his support for the initiative.

In a press conference at the beginning of this month, Duffy said that he was planning to apply for “$ 10 billion” from the congress to support the modernization of air traffic control. The FAA systems and procedures have received an increased examination in the middle of a number of fatal and almost fatal incidents, including a collision between a Black Hawk helicopter of the US Army and the commercial passenger jet in January, which killed 67 people. In February, a coalition of aviation groups asked the congress to approved “robust emergency financing” in order to clear up this concerns.

The regulatory authority has already assumed several security recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), such as:

According to Duffy, FAA staff also use artificial intelligence to identify “hotspots” for potential accidents and almost errors.

“If there is another” DCA-like “situation out there, our AI tools help us to identify them and prevent corrective measures in contrast to retrospectively,” he said.

But Duffy doesn’t want to stop there. At the beginning of this month, the transport secretary said that he wanted to acquire new radar systems and control terminals, increase the setting of air traffic rules and replace the copper telecommunications cabling with “fiber, wireless and satellite”. He also swore to end the use of diskettes and install the security technology of the runway, with which “our air traffic controls cannot use binoculars in the tower to determine where airplanes are located.”

Duffy described the air traffic control system as “aging” and “understaffed” and repeated the ratings of the aviation industry and other government agencies. According to a FAA air traffic control plan in September 2023, the agency in September 2023 was 2,000 to 4,000 certified professional controllers (CPCs) shortly before its staff destination at US airports. The control tower at KDCA was short for the collision of January.

A report by the government responsibility (GAO), which was created after the crash of 2023 airms (NOMMEN) system, recommended the FAA urgent measures to modernize “numerous aging and non -sustainable air traffic control systems”.

The regulatory authority has tried to do exactly that as part of its Nextgen program, which has been running for decades, but has made “mixed progress” according to GAO.

The agency Verizon has recently awarded a contract of 2 billion US dollars to set up the critical infrastructure for the FENS program (FAA Enterprise Network Services) in the next 15 years. According to the FAA, FEN “highly available and safe communication, information services and networking functions” are installed for air traffic control.

But this contract could be in danger. Several reports have proposed to take over SpaceXs Starlink, like a dispute that Starlink refused. The FAA said at the beginning of this month that it tested Starlink terminals on two “non-safe critical websites” in Alaska and a facility in New Jersey.

On Tuesday the agency told Fly It is testing eight Starlink connections and “several other technologies, including wireless” in two of its facilities, but a final decision on the provision will come from the FAA administrator. Trump appointed Bryan Bedford, former CEO of Republic Airways, for this role last week.

“To update our air traffic control system, several companies and several technologies will be required” Fly. “That is why we test several communication technologies, including satellites, glass fiber and wireless to ensure the safety of the national airspace system. In addition, no decisions were made for other deployments.”

The agency said that Starlink tests are carried out as part of the FTI program of the FAA Telecommunication Infrastructure (FTI), which is managed by a contract with L3 Harris. The FAA and Verizon describe fens as the successor to FTI. But Elon Musk, CEO of Duffy and SpaceX, have convicted verizons implementation pace. Musk claimed that the system, which is not yet ready for operation, was “not working” and “air traveler seriously endangered” and later admitted that he wanted to judge his anger on L3 Harris and FTI. In response, Verizon said that his solution is “ready to be used.”

“We continue to have productive discussions with the FAA, but we currently have no additional updates to offer,” a spokesman for Verizon told Fly.

The FAA also takes steps to “end” the cessation of air traffic control. On Friday, the agency announced that it has qualified and transferred more than 8,000 candidates to the ATSA examination (Air traffic skills). Almost 200 of them passed the test and switch to the setting process. It estimates that these efforts have broken down five months after its previous settings pipeline.