Officials plan to revamp the US air traffic control system. Here’s a breakdown by the numbers
May 8, 2025, 2:46 PM
A United Airlines jetliner prepares to push off from a gate at Denver International Airport Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The Trump administration on Thursday announced an ambitious three-year plan to replace the United State’s aging air traffic control system.
Officials did not provide an exact cost estimate but said it would require billions of dollars to put in place. They said a $12.5 billion budget proposal that a House committee drafted last week represents a solid “down payment” on the plan, which was developed after the deadly midair collision over Washington, D.C., in January.
Here are some of the key numbers of improvements in the plan:
The plan calls for installing 4,600 high-speed network connections for data and communications across the air traffic control system at airports and radar control centers and other facilities across the country.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a desperate need to upgrade the Federal Aviation Administration’s communications network because part of it still operates on outdated copper wires.
Some of the shortcomings of the current system have been on display at the Newark, New Jersey, airport over the past two weeks. The air traffic control center in Philadelphia that directs planes in and out of Newark lost its radar signal for between 30 and 90 seconds on April 28, meaning air traffic controllers couldn’t tell where planes were temporarily.
The FAA subsequently slowed down traffic at the Newark airport, which forced airlines to cancel or delay hundreds of flights, leaving travelers stranded. It appears that the source of the problem was a breakdown in the lines carrying radar data from a facility in New York to the air traffic controllers in Philadelphia.
The FAA is already working on replacing those lines with fiber optic ones and training more controllers to improve the situation in Newark.
Duffy said that fiber optic lines will be the priority in the upgrades nationwide, but in some cases the government may look at satellite or cellular technology. Duffy said he is “agnostic” about whether Elon Musk’s Starlink or any other company should get the contracts and will let the bidding process play out.
The plan calls for replacing 618 radar systems countrywide.
Duffy said many of the existing radar systems at airports date back to the 1980s or even 1970s, so they need to be replaced.
When repairs are needed, some of the antiquated components can be hard to find, so Duffy said the government sometimes resorts to buying parts on eBay to maintain its systems.
The plan proposes creating six new air traffic control centers, a significant number since one hasn’t been built since the 1960s. Duffy said the goal would be to consolidate hard-to-staff facilities whenever possible.
The FAA would build 15 new towers combined with Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities at airports across the country.
The FAA relies on aging radio equipment to allow air traffic controllers to talk to pilots. Some of those radios are more than 30 years old.
Newer digital equipment should be more reliable and offer more clarity than the old radios, as well as make the system more secure.
The plan to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system has drawn support from 55 groups across the aviation industry. The new Modern Skies Coalition includes major unions, trade groups, airplane manufacturers and other associations.
Representatives of those groups attended the plan’s announcement Thursday.
Only about 44 of the most complex airports currently have high-tech systems installed to help controllers keep track of where planes are on the ground.
Two hundred more airports would get these systems, allowing controllers to accurately track planes’ positions instead of just using binoculars from the tower window.
But even after these upgrades, 200 more airports would remain without these ground systems that help keep taxiing planes from running into each other.
