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US Senator Jerry Moran.
WASHINGTON—While supportive of calls for additional air traffic control (ATC) modernization funding, the chairman of the US Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation first wants to examine how dollars have been allocated in the past.
Congress appropriated $12.5 billion in 2025 for the new ATC modernization campaign; US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is now seeking $30 billion, although FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said this week that the specific request would be $27 billion.
“We have to see the results of how the first amount of money has been spent,” US Senator Jerry Moran (Rep-Kansas) said while addressing the Regional Airline Association’s (RAA) Leaders Conference in Washington DC on Sept. 23, the day after Duffy’s announcement. “I will be asking for our chairman of our appropriations subcommittee to have the FAA and the Department of Transportation appear before our subcommittee to bring the report, before we make appropriation decisions.”
As an appropriator for the Transportation Department, Moran is so far unsure of the path to source that additional funding. But the lawmaker is willing to take a lead or supporting role to find the extra funding, he said.
“We're working to see if there's going to be a reconciliation process or an emergency supplemental in which we might be able to find … a few billion dollars,” Moran said. That additional funding was critical to the effort, Bedford stressed in a keynote fireside at the conference later that day. “We can predict failure today” if funding is not forthcoming, he said.
Separately, Moran addressed the ROTOR Act, of which he is a sponsor—one of two dueling bills in Congress prompted by the January 2025 midair collision between a regional jet and a US Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport. Only the Senate’s bill clearly mandates that ADS-B In-powered collision avoidance technology be integrated into flight decks. Moran wants the House and Senate to reach a compromise, he said. The lawmaker has met with regional airlines over the issue, describing himself as sympathetic to concerns about compliance timelines.
“I would be an advocate and an ally for those who want to have this process work in a way that makes sense … we cannot make expectations that can't be met,” he said. “But in the intermediate, longer term, we have got to make sure that we are utilizing all the safety techniques and devices.”
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