US Transportation Secretary Seeks $19 Billion More for Air Traffic Control Overhaul

The country’s transportation secretary is seeking additional funding to upgrade the aging air traffic control system in the United States.

Secretary Sean Duffy appeared before Congress today to ask for another $19 billion for the work ahead. His request follows on the heels of Congressional approval of $12.5 billion over five years to begin the needed work.

"We are going to need more money from the Congress," Duffy said at a U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, according to Reuters.

Duffy estimates it will take about $31.5 billion to fund all the work that is needed.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic network has been in need of overhaul for a long time. But the issues facing the aging system became especially pressing after a string of plane crashes in the U.S earlier this year.

The most high profile of those crashes involved a U.S. Army helicopter colliding with a regional American Airlines plane killing 67 people.

The overhaul plans for the system include upgrading radar and telecommunications, increasing air traffic controller staffing and offering new incentives to retain controllers.

Additional needs include purchasing new radios and network connections, replacing 618 radar systems and installing an anti-collision tarmac technology.

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