Will Congress Support A U.S. ATM System Overhaul?

There have been two fatal crashes and several near misses at or near major U.S. airports since the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as President and the turning over of both House and Senate to Republican control of Congress. A multi-billion-dollar campaign to modernize the U.S.  National Airspace System (NAS) is aimed at making the system safer and more efficient before Trump’s end of term in 2028. How is it progressing?

At an event at U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) headquarters in Washington, DC in April, hosted by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, the list of accomplishments during the air traffic management (ATM) modernization program’s first year was long. Almost 50% of aging copper wire has been replaced with high-speed fiber; 270 radio sites converted; new surface awareness systems (SAS) at 54 airports installed; 17 air traffic control (ATC) towers transitioned from paper flight tickets and floppy disks to electronic strips; nearly 2,400 controllers hired. DOT and FAA also appointed Peraton as the project’s prime integrator in December.

The work to date is being funded by $12.5 billion released by Congress as part of last year’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. But that funding, by law, can be used only for the specific construction and modernization work listed in the DOT and FAA request, including the wire replacements, radio conversions, new SAS and digital flight strips. Much more—an estimated $20 billion—will be needed to truly transform the NAS through modern software.

Bedford noted that the NAS was essentially an analog system that was “very reliable, but still inefficient.” Moving from a “highly tactical” system to a strategic one would optimize the NAS and make it one that gets ahead of problems rather than react to them, reducing congestion and delays, he said. It would be “the key to unloading all the benefits” of the ongoing construction and replacement work.”

Duffy stressed that the $12.5 billion had been a bipartisan grant that was supported across the air transport industry sector. He urged Congress to find a way to deliver the additional funding, saying it could “have faith in this DOT and this FAA” because the agencies would be honest about progress, whether the project was on schedule and budget or not. But with billions now being spent on the war in Iran, it’s not hard to suspect that DOT must compete with the Pentagon for at least some of that $20 billion. If, as some are predicting, Democrats win the House and even the Senate in the mid-term elections this fall, will they be more or less likely to support a Trump-branded campaign? (The April event’s programs and slides featured a control tower schematic with DJT at the top as if that was an airport IATA code, not the President’s initials.)

In next steps, if funded, the project would bring in modern, AI-based software and a common automation platform so that training and updates can be done more quickly. But no such software or platform exists today—they would need to be built and customized to the NAS needs, hence the lofty price tag. Dozens of industry technology providers attended the April event eager to win a piece of the already-funded work or the future software transition program if it comes to bear.

“The question I’m most asked today is ‘is flying safe; is the airspace safe?’,” Duffy said. “The simple answer is, of course it is safe. It’s safer than the drive to the airport. But it’s safe not because we have the best systems in place, but because we have the greatest air traffic controllers and pilots. Our people deserve the most technologically advanced airspace system.”

That may also be the answer as to whether funding for a new, advanced NAS will continue. Lawmakers of both colors tend to fly a lot.