US wants another $30 billion for aviation system upgrades

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 FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said outdated telecom copper wires should be completely replaced ‌by September ‌2027.