Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced an ambitious plan to modernize the aging air traffic control system by 2028, responding to recent crashes, communication failures, and safety issues. The proposal includes replacing outdated technology with modern fiber-optic, wireless, and satellite systems, establishing at least six new control centers, and updating 4,600 locations. Early estimates suggest potential costs in the tens of billions, with some initial funding already outlined by the Trump administration. Industry officials warn that without significant upgrades, the frequency of technical outages may continue to rise, jeopardizing air travel safety.
"This is bold, this is gonna be challenging, but we absolutely can do it," Duffy declared of the plans for a state-of-the-art system to replace the archaic technology causing some hair-raising emergencies."
"We should be using fiber, but it's copper. We use radar from the 1970s," the transportation chief explained. "Some of them are from the 1980s, but most of them are from the 1970s, so this technology is 50 years old that our controllers use to scan the skies."
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