We all know that air traffic control in the United States is a mess. While part of the issue is the shortage of air traffic controllers, the bigger issue is that our air traffic control infrastructure is incredibly outdated, impacting operational reliability and safety.
Continue reading: Trump Unveils Plan To Modernize Air Traffic Control: Long Overdue!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
It would be really cool if every contract signed through this plan was awarded only after going through a transparent and fair procurement process to select the highest quality work at the best price.
It would really suck if any contracts signed through this plan are awarded through a procurement process tainted by conflicts of interest.
Based on the way this administration has conducted itself so far, I have a guess about which of the above is more likely.
They could not possibly have a workable plan to do this many new things in just a 3 year time frame. They are just going to ask Congress for a bunch of money and just as the money is sent they will be no closer to an actual plan. This is not a plan but a document explaining whats wrong with using a lot of old tech and systems. They will buy Wireless from Elon's StarLink when there are plentiful hard wired fiber optic connections nearby to their facilities.
I work in this space. You should not have covered this as a sensible rational proposal because its just propaganda for their own closed media system to repeat. It solves no problems and if actually implemented will probably lead to casualties and more downtime.
This ATC system is plagued by chronic lack of long term planning and the clear tell in their plans here is that it has to be done in 3 years. It literally can't be fixed that quick nor is the custom unique hardware and software they need going to be available in such short order.
Ironic that the plan is to complete everything just before the next Presidential election.
It’s important to note that the previous administration and specifically previous transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg had this plan and idea already. But it was the GOP in Congress that blocked it.
So, sure, kudos to Duffy for the announcement today. But let’s see if they can be successful with the implementation. And shame on the GOP for delaying this important upgrade just to score political points.
I'm really excited for this. We've neglected ATC for too long, and it's arguably one of the most important jobs out there. Modernization will help with hiring too.
The timeline is a little frustrating, but I'd rather them get it right and get everyone's input than move with haste.
Especially when, if it was this easy and Trump's admin so competent, they could have done it during his first term. It's like everybody on the right just memory-holed that he's already been in office once, and his crowning achievements were two impeachments (and in fairness fast-tracking approvals for the COVID MRNA vaccines, but righties don't like that part so Trump never actually takes credit for it).
Glad someone else made this point first. The TrumpGOP has specialized is preventing progress during the Biden era, then repackaging the best ideas as their own once their leader is back in the White House.
It's also pathetic how nearly every announcement from Trump officials must include at least one over the top fluffing of dear leader. What an insecure orange korkad apa we have in the White House.
We'll see if this really happens on such an ambitious timeline. It's easy to fire out a press release. It's hard to get things done.
@ Debo -- I'm curious, did I miss that proposal at the time? Do you have a link, by chance? If so, I'd love to update the post to reflect that. Thanks!
Debo,
You mean the GOP congress that Biden had throughout the first two years of his term, right?
I hope this gets done but just stating what you want to do and having an actual realistic plan are two things. Its going to take 3 years just to come up with an implementation plan.
As with anything else, the devil is in the details. You have to develop and implement the new system while at the same time keeping the old system up and running. Getting this done in three years is very wishful thinking. And I wouldn’t be so quick to get rid of the paper flight strips. They are cheap, easy, and remarkably efficient.
In Biden's first two years, the Dems held the House and Senate. He didn't need Republican votes and he could have added more funding in Build Back Better to ATC rather than to green projects. Some people, everything is always the President's fault.
What was stopping the Dems from doing this when they had control of all legislative branches of Government from 2020 to 2022 ?
orange man bad. this will never work. you will all become unalived if you let orange man do this. the old system worked fine. this is just a ploy for all his billionaire oligarch friends to embezzle money from the US government
Ask engineers, working for Elon's companies really sucks. His halo effect in business is pretty remarkable. A 21st Century PT Barnum.
@Bbt
First, they had control from January 2021 through the end of 2022, and that "control" was tenuous since their majority required Harris as the tie-breaker in the Senate and required that all 50 Democrat senators voted the party line. In case you forgot, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin were notorious for opposing various Democrat legislation like removing the filibuster.
Second, there was kind of a big thing going on at the time like the recovery from a global pandemic, rebuilding crumbling interstate road infrastructure, and upgrading port infrastructure to handle skyrocketing container deliveries. Higher priorities than fixing Newark's ATC.
And back at you, what stopped Trump from doing this when he was President the first time?
And then there is the "plan" for an alternative to Obamacare. It made a great headline during the campaign but we haven't heard jack about it since.
How far Biden could go was limited to getting 60 votes in the Senate. Simply adding more funding wasn’t possible. They got some in the infrastructure bill but then had other priorities as well!
@ Ben: check this out: https://www.supplychainbrain.com/articles/37231-house-gop-spending-cuts-would-wreak-havoc-on-us-air-system-faa-says
A lot of the discussion is buried in conversations around the 2023 budget. And with today’s announcement, old news is very hard to find by the search engines, but that gives a general idea.
Every admin has failed to update Air Traffic Control since the 70s. There have been a lot of plans and lots of failures. What was the plan with Verizon under Biden. What was the plan under Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagon, Carter. It was getting old by Ford. Also, firing your technicians that supported the old equipment was not a smart move.
Yep. During which they successfully managed pandemic recovery and passed a slew of other bills, including the infrastructure act. (Which Trump couldn’t pass in his first term). Biden administration didn’t have a magic wand. They were limited to funding which could get 60 votes in the senate.
And we should all really believe what Trump says he will do because he never lies . . .
Can’t help but wonder if Elon’s Starlink Aviation company will somehow magically win this huge contract.
Can’t help but wonder if Elon’s Starlink Aviation company will somehow magically win this huge contract.
How soon they forget....The Air Traffic Control Modernization Act (potentially referred to as a 2019 bill to upgrade air traffic control), was a bipartisan measure that aimed to overhaul the aging US air traffic control system. The House had passed its version of the bill, and the Senate was also working on their own version, but a final bill was not enacted. The bill focused on addressing shortages of air traffic controllers, increasing safety standards, and modernizing the system with new technologies and infrastructure. Guess which side shot it down....
In addition to an existing $40B contract to Verizon that will be reassigned to Elon for some contrived reason.
Having been involved in the acquisition of a major aerospace ground system, I can tell you that full operational capability will likely be in 10 years from program approval.
1.0 had four years from 2017-2021 to get this going. @dcarter references The Air Traffic Control Modernization Act that never was enacted. This is just another "concept of a plan".
In practical terms, pretty much anything can be accomplished on almost any timeline given enough money. They built a liberty ship in under 5 days in 1942, because the technology and infrastructure was in place to support that.
Is the technology and infrastructure prepared if congress writes the checks?
“The bearing of a child takes nine months, no matter how many women are assigned.” -Frederick Brooks
And?? Ok, so a politician bullshitted and declared an aggressive timeliness. Bombshell! Come on, every politician in every party does this equally... it's human nature. So what if it takes 25 years! Let's get started tonight, put our heads down, don't slow down... just keep throwing track out front. And eventually it can be accomplished just like every other improvement mankind has made throughout history. Aviation is NOT unique in this manner.
If he's not being constantly praised by the cult, then he starts looking for people to blame/fire.
You know how the North Koreans thank Dear Leader for the sun coming out every morning? That's MAGA in six months.
They've only been promising this for twenty years and five presidencies.
But sure. It'll totally happen this time. And then he's gonna fix Social Security. And get smoke detectors to stop chirping. And make rain clouds that dispense Orange Crush.
False. No one vetoed anything, it never made it to commitee and there was no vote.
What in the fake journalism is this story?
All this administration does is pump out press releases.
They cancel contracts and they fire people.
You honestly think this is happening?
Feet to the fire.
Technology of 20 years ago would have been adequate and was avaliable at Best Buy and Radio Shack back then.
To fully automate and eliminate error making humans from the system would take several months to be operational but decades to be accepted by dinosaurs.
OMAT shouldn't even dignify this pathetic and awkward press release with an article. Bunch of bozos running this country. They'll give up or forget they even had this press release and move on to something they can do like rename a body of water again or pass legislation about shower pressure.
I'll reply Jack. I couldn't agree more. Trump has no interest in doing what the Biden Administration already proposed that the GOP in Congress blocked from happening.
It will be tremendously good, best ever, a system the world has never seen before, it just will be unbelievably good.
Look, this guy is clueless, his admin is clueless and grifting will not improve any system
It will be tremendously good, best ever, a system the world has never seen before, it just will be unbelievably good.
Look, this guy is clueless, his admin is clueless and grifting will not improve any system
TRUMP coming through in the clutch as always. Bringing America into the 21st century!