<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are requesting Congress to fund a $30 billion project aimed at modernizing the nation’s air traffic control system to reduce flight delays and cancellations.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford announced the introduction of the Modern Skies Act at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Monday. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) introduced the bill and is leading the initiative in Congress, which Duffy described as a bipartisan effort.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Think about: Nearly a billion people travel our skies in the United States this year, nearly 18 million flights operating in the country, and then think about the demand to increase that over the next 10, 20 years,” Bedford stated. “We have got to do this. This really isn’t a choice. This is an investment. It’ll have a significant return on investment because air transportation is roughly 6-7% of our gross domestic product.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Modern Skies Act allocates $10 billion for tower replacement projects and ground facilities, $10 billion for upgrading telecommunications architecture and digitizing analog systems, and another $10 billion for general airport infrastructure and expanding software systems.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“A lot of our towers, many of them were built in the 1960s and ’70s. … We have air traffic controllers who are working in towers where the roofs leak,” Bedford noted. “I’ve been in some where the toilets are leaking down to the break room, where the controllers are below. Sometimes the elevators don’t work, and by the way, towers are pretty high up in the air, so they get a little sweaty.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The overhaul is projected to save billions in the long run, potentially $300 billion over the next 20 years, according to Bedford.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This funding request follows an initial $12.5 billion that Congress allocated for the project last year.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">With that funding, the FAA has begun replacing infrastructure, including radar, software, hardware, and telecommunications, through more than 10,000 projects nationwide, all of which are being monitored.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">More than 60% of the nation’s legacy copper telecommunications lines have been replaced with high-speed fiber-optic and wireless infrastructure. Manual buttons and analog patch boards are being replaced with digital communications and switches, as reported on the government’s Modern Skies website.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Across the country, we’ve deployed radar, radios, voice switches, surface awareness systems,” Duffy stated. “We’re transitioning from old copper wires to fiber, high-speed fiber. All things that have been talked about but never been done that we are actually doing right now.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, stated that the funding from Congress in 2025 initiated changes that have led to “meaningful progress.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Controllers are ready for modernization,” Daniels said. “We want the tools, systems, the infrastructure that will allow us to do our jobs at the highest level and continue providing the safe, efficient service that the American flying public deserves.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Commercial air travel has reached all-time high levels of nearly 3 million passengers per day since the pandemic, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The FAA has faced challenges in maintaining sufficient air traffic controllers and operating with outdated flight-tracking systems amid a series of notable aviation incidents, as more individuals opt for air travel each year.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Air travel issues have become increasingly apparent to the traveling public, with frequent flight delays and cancellations. One in 12 flights was delayed more than an hour last year, making 2025 the year with the worst on-time performance in over a decade, according to data from the Department of Transportation reviewed by the nonprofit Public Interest Research Group.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In an interview at the DOT’s Washington headquarters in August, Bedford outlined how the Trump administration was addressing the agency’s long-standing goal to modernize air travel by implementing more than 10,000 changes before the end of the administration.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Although the $12.5 billion Congress allocated to the initial phase of the project includes hiring more air traffic controllers, some individuals who contacted the Washington Examiner following the Bedford interview indicated that the agency is significantly understaffed, facing challenges in preparing for an anticipated wave of employee departures in 2028.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Organizations supporting the funding request include the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Airlines for America, Association of Value Airlines, Air Line Pilots Association, American Association of Airport Executives, and General Aviation Manufacturers Association. The plan has also received support from Trump.</p>