US wants another $30 billion for aviation system upgrades

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday that he will ask Congress to approve another $30 billion for air traffic control towers, software and digital upgrades as well as improving airport facilities.

Congress approved $12.5 billion over five years in June 2025 for air traffic control reforms but Duffy has been seeking billions more and on Tuesday sought another $10 billion for airports.

“We are going to ask Congress for $30 billion,” Duffy said at a speech in Washington. “We have to look at how the country has changed and what the needs are at the airports.”

The request has taken on new urgency since a major telecom failure on Monday a paralyzed traffic along the east coast for hours and disrupted thousands of flights.

About $10 billion of the funding being sought is to replace aging air traffic control towers and another $10 billion is for telecom and other tech systems used for air traffic control.

Some of the funding being sought is to expand a new software-based system the FAA began using on Monday that uses predictive analytics ​to improve how flights are managed.

A government report last week said Congress needs to approve more money just to finish the first phase of the air traffic control program and said the FAA needs a better estimate of how much the new system will cost to operate.

The price tag for telecommunications upgrades has jumped $4.75 billion to $5.91 billion, the report said. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said outdated telecom copper wires should be ⁠completely ​replaced by September 2027.

(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Nick Zieminski and Deepa Babington)