DOT Unveils New Plan to Overhaul US Air Traffic Control System

The Department of Transportation has announced a new three-year plan to modernize the country’s air traffic control system and phase out the current "antiquated" system.

DOT Secretary Sean P. Duffy unveiled details of the plan today, which calls for building a new, state-of-the-art air traffic control system focused on enhancing safety, reducing delays, and unlocking “the future of air travel.”

Duffy said building the new system “is an economic and national security necessity, and the time to fix it is now.”

Today's DOT announcement comes months after a string of fatal plane crashes, including what was the country’s first high-profile commercial crash in 15 years.

On January 29, a mid-air crash between a military Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines plane near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport killed 67 people. Not long after, in February, two small planes crashed in the air near an Arizona airport. In that incident, two people were killed.

It also follows recent chaos at Newark, during which airspace controllers lost contact with pilots due to a failure of the copper wiring that transmits radar data.


President Donald Trump, who called into today's press conference, said much of the current system relies on "equipment that’s from the 1960s if you can believe it, doesn’t even mesh with the plane."

Here’s a closer look at the plan unveiled today.

Proposed new air traffic control system

The DOT plan presented today is focused on providing what officials say will be a state-of-the-art air traffic control system. As part of that effort, the FAA would replace core infrastructure including radar, software, hardware and telecommunications networks to manage modern travel.

“We have a system that is built for the past, we are proposing a system built for the future,” said a DOT press release.

The agency plans to equip facilities with better technology to reduce outages, improve efficiency, and reinforce safety.

The proposal to revamp U.S. air traffic control focuses on four infrastructure components: Communications; surveillance, automation and facilities

Some of the critical actions that are part of the new plan include: 

• Replacing antiquated telecommunications with new fiber, wireless and satellite technologies at over 4,600 sites, 25,000 new radios and 475 new voice switches.
• Replacing 618 radars which have gone past their life cycle.
• Addressing runway safety by increasing the number of airports with Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI) to 200.
• Building six new air traffic control centers for the first time since the 1960s and replacing towers and TRACONs.
• Installing new modern hardware and software for all air traffic facilities to create a common platform system throughout towers, TRACONs and centers
• Addressing the challenges that face Alaska by adding 174 new weather stations. 
  
  

The U.S. Travel Association issued a statement supporting the DOT plan, noting that the proposal will “address long-standing challenges in the aviation system by advancing vital new technologies and requesting increased federal investment to ensure timely implementation.”

The DOT’s proposal must still be funded by Congress, which Duffy acknowledged.

"To do it in three or four years, we need all of the money up front,” Duffy said.

---

For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.

Topics From This Article to Explore