President Donald Trump touted his administration’s efforts to rebuild and modernize U.S. air traffic control, as the Department of Transportation rolled out its three-year plan to build a brand-new, ‘state-of-the-art’ system to address critical safety needs, while blasting former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for having ‘no clue.’
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Thursday unveiled the proposal, which would replace the current, antiquated Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system and ‘enhance safety in the sky, reduce delays and unlock the future of air travel.’
‘Under President Trump, America is building again,’ Duffy said Thursday, upon rolling out the new proposal for a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a brand new, state-of-the-art air traffic control system.’
‘Decades of neglect have left us with an outdated system that is showing its age,’ Duffy said, noting that building the new system ‘is an economic and national security necessity, and the time to fix it is now.’
Under the new air traffic control system proposal, the FAA would replace infrastructure, including radar, software, hardware and telecommunications networks, to manage modern travel.
Officials say the current system was built ‘for the past,’ but the new proposal is to build a system ‘for the future.’
The plan would ensure facilities are equipped with better technologies to reduce outages, improve efficiency and reinforce safety.
‘We’re going to be buying a brand-new, state of the art system that will cover the entire world,’ Trump said earlier Thursday.
The plan consists of four infrastructure components: communications, surveillance, automation and facilities, according to the Transportation Department.
Officials plan, by 2028, to replace current telecommunications systems with new fiber, wireless and satellite technologies at more than 4,600 sites, 25,000 new radios and 475 new voice switches. By 2027, 618 radars will also be replaced.
The plan also would address runway safety by increasing the number of airports with Surface Awareness Initiative to 200. Officials expect this to be complete by 2027.
The Transportation Department also proposed building six new air traffic control centers for the first time since the 1960s. It also proposes replacing 15 towers and 15 co-located TRACONs, or Terminal Radar Approach Controls, which are facilities that manage air traffic in the airspace surrounding busy airports.
Officials also proposed the installation of new modern hardware and software for all air traffic facilities, which would create a common platform system throughout all towers, TRACONs and centers.
The proposal also includes the deployment of additional technologies to the Caribbean and Alaska to provide accurate, real-time surveillance and weather information for air traffic control and pilots to ensure ‘safe and efficient flights for these critical locations.’
Officials stressed the need for a new air traffic control system, saying the FAA is grappling with a ‘rapidly growing, complex and demanding aviation sector,’ as commercial air travel returns to pre-COVID levels. Officials also pointed to novel challenges, including drones and advanced air mobility.
Officials said the FAA’s current systems ‘are showing their age,’ which leads to ‘delays and inefficiencies.’
The Department of Transportation stressed that the current National Airspace System is ‘safe,’ but stressed that maintaining safety is necessary.
The proposal is based on a three-year framework to reinvest in the National Airspace System, and called for an ’emergency supplemental funding increase.’
‘Modernization of the NAS can no longer take 10+ years to complete; it must be done now,’ the proposal states. ‘We need an immediate infusion of funding to address critical infrastructure needs.’
Duffy, on Thursday, said the project would take three to four years.
‘I need help, I can’t do it by myself. And it’s going to take the help of the Congress to make that happen,’ Duffy said. ‘We need all of the money up front.’
Duffy said requesting the money in ‘small tranches’ over the course of several years would extend the project.
‘Politics change, leadership changes, presidents change, interest changes, and it never gets built,’ Duffy said. ‘So I’m going to ask the Congress for upfront appropriations to give us all the money. I’ll come before the Congress every, every quarter and give them an update of how far we’ve built, how much money we’ve spent.’
Duffy added that if the Department of Transportation is not given the money, it would take ’10 to 15 years to build this.’
‘And by the time we get done with it, what we’re going to build is already going to be old technology,’ Duffy said. ‘So we want to build this in three to four years, and we can do it with the help of Congress.’
A report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in March shows that the Trump administration inherited an outdated FAA system from the Biden administration with ‘severe shortcomings’ that resulted in dangerous travel conditions across the country.
After Trump’s return to the White House, the GAO advised the administration that it had made nine recommendations to the FAA under the Biden administration that remain open, and that ‘urgent attention’ is needed to remedy the safety issues left by Biden.
GAO said that under the Biden administration the FAA ‘did not prioritize or establish near-term plans to modernize unsustainable and critical systems.’
The GAO’s 2025 report said the 2023 national airspace prompted an operational risk assessment, which found that of the 138 air traffic control systems, ’51 (37%) were deemed unsustainable by FAA and 54 (39%) were potentially unsustainable.’
Trump, on Thursday, blasted the current ‘ancient infrastructure,’ saying ‘it’s buckling under the weight of more than a billion flying passengers a year and supporting hundreds of billions of dollars.’
‘Pete Buttigieg, who was the secretary of transportation, had no clue what the problem was,’ Trump said. ‘He had no clue. Zero. Zero.’
Trump said Buttigieg ‘wants to run for president.’
‘I don’t think he’s going to do too well,’ Trump said. ‘The federal government now pays $250 million annually just to keep up the old equipment and keep it running.’
Meanwhile, Duffy on Thursday said the administration has assembled an ‘unprecedented coalition of support’ from labor to industry, stressing that support is ‘indicative of just how important it is to this administration to get done what no one else could.’
Duffy added: ‘The American people are counting on us, and we won’t let them down.’
The rollout of the proposal comes just days after the FAA issued a ground delay for Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey due to staffing shortages, weather and construction.
‘Our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our workforce,’ an FAA statement said. ‘As Secretary Duffy has said, we must get the best safety technology in the hands of controllers as soon as possible.’
It also comes after air traffic controller audio was made public from when radar and radio communications with planes were briefly lost at Newark Airport on April 28.
The April 28 outage lasted roughly 90 seconds. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital, writing that the FAA’s operation in Philadelphia had ‘temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them.’
Fox Business’ Grady Trimble contributed to this report.
