WorldPosted at: Nov 14 2026 2:25PM


Duffy seeks $50 bn from Congress to overhaul US Air Traffic Control System after nationwide disruption

Washington, Nov 14 (UNI) US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has urged Congress to approve nearly $50 billion in additional funding to modernise the country’s ageing air traffic control (ATC) system, warning that temporary repairs would not address its growing vulnerabilities.
His appeal follows a nationwide ground stop triggered by a telecommunications outage that disrupted air traffic control operations, causing thousands of flight delays and cancellations.The rare decision to halt all US flights was made after “incredibly old” air traffic control routers became overloaded with data and started to give inconsistent readings, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the FAA added new technology into an existing framework, which overwhelmed the older system.
Duffy has called on lawmakers to pass the proposed Modern Skies Act, which seeks $20 billion for upgrading air traffic control technology, replacing ageing airport infrastructure and improving airport facilities.
The proposal builds on the $12.5 billion already allocated by Congress under President Donald Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut Act. The administration has also estimated that a further $7 billion to $10 billion would be required for software upgrades.
In a post on Facebook, Duffy blamed the nationwide disruption on outdated analogue equipment that could no longer cope with the demands of modern aviation.
“Today’s nationwide ground stop happened because our air traffic control system is operating on DECADES-OLD, analog equipment that simply cannot compete with the demands of the 21st century,” he said.
While acknowledging the ongoing modernisation efforts funded through the initial $12.5 billion allocation, Duffy said significantly more investment is required to complete the overhaul.
“President Donald Trump is asking Congress to give us the resources to build a state-of-the-art air traffic control system. Let’s not do a patchwork fix to a system that’s critical for every single family,” he said, urging Congress to pass the Modern Skies Act.
Explaining the circumstances that led to the nationwide ground stop, Duffy told reporters that the disruption began at approximately 3.36 pm (local time), when radar and communication systems at air traffic control centres and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities across the country experienced instability.
"At 3:36 pm, we experienced instability for our radar and our communications in our centres and our TRACONs across the country," he said.
He said air traffic controllers began receiving inconsistent radar data and communication signals from aircraft, prompting authorities to activate established safety procedures and halt flights.
"The TRACONs and the centres, we started to have inconsistency in the data from the radars and our communication with airplanes. And we have procedures for this. Our pilots are well trained, our air traffic controllers are well trained, and at that point we issued a ground stop," he said.
More than 3,500 aircraft were airborne when the ground stop was announced, Duffy said, adding that authorities coordinated their safe landings. Essential aviation operations, including medical evacuation flights, cargo carrying life-saving medicines and law enforcement movements, were allowed to continue.
"We didn't lose all telecom, we didn't lose all radar, but that instability—because of an abundance of caution and making sure we keep the American flyer safe—we did the ground stop, but we were going to allow those life-saving movements to still occur," he said.
Duffy attributed the disruption to the country's legacy telecommunications infrastructure, which relies on time-division multiplexing (TDM), an older analogue technology. He said ageing switches and routers became overloaded with data, resulting in inconsistencies in the information transmitted through the system.
"We have TDM telecom. So, this is analog telecom. Our switches, our routers actually got overloaded with data, and they went down. And—I shouldn't say they went down—they started to give us inconsistency in the data from those routers, and because of that we shut the system down," he said.
He added that newer Internet Protocol (IP) switches installed under the Trump administration continued functioning during the incident, while older equipment experienced technical instability.
Under the proposed Modern Skies Act, $10 billion would be allocated to completing upgrades to the digital infrastructure supporting air traffic control, including controller safety separation tools, telecommunications networks and advanced air traffic flow management technology.
Another $10 billion would go towards replacing ageing control towers, airport facilities and runways, while the remaining $10 billion would establish a grant programme for airports handling between five million and 25 million passengers annually.
The legislation would also give the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) greater flexibility to deploy modern radar systems, radios, electronic flight strips and surface-awareness technology.
Duffy said the administration had already made progress under the initial $12.5 billion allocation, including replacing outdated copper wiring with high-speed fibre, upgrading radio systems and installing new surveillance technology at airports. However, he maintained that additional funding was essential to complete the modernisation programme.
During a separate briefing, he said another $7 billion to $10 billion would be needed for software development and deployment. He added that the process would take time, as the systems would need to undergo testing, debugging and staff training.
The FAA has also begun deploying digital towers, with systems already operational at Bartow Executive Airport in Florida and Kenai Municipal Airport in Alaska, according to an agency announcement on November 6. Five additional airports are expected to receive the technology. Digital towers has inbuilt advanced cameras and display systems to provide air traffic controllers with a continuous 360-degree view of runways, taxiways and surrounding airspace.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the technology would give controllers greater visibility and access to information needed to make critical operational decisions. Describing the initial $12.5 billion allocation as a "critical down payment", he said the Modern Skies Act would help complete the transformation of the National Airspace System.
The proposed legislation has received support from several aviation industry organisations, including Airlines for America, the Air Line Pilots Association, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the American Association of Airport Executives.
Meanwhile, US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication that the telecommunications outage was linked to a cyberattack or a separate Microsoft disruption.
"I want to make sure everybody understands that there is no connection between this and Microsoft. I know a lot of people are making that jump. So far, what we've seen, there is actually no cyberattack. We're still working through that process. Our teams are working," Mullin said.
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