Transport Secretary Sean Duffy announced an ambitious modernisation plan for air transport management on Thursday, pledging to make air travel safer and more efficient in the US by investing in many new technologies.
The eight-page framework is about to upgrade the radio systems that controllers use to communicate with pilots, replace copper wiring with fiber optics, digitize flight data management tools, and update the deterioration of air traffic control facilities across the country. It also proposes deploying new technologies in Alaska and the Caribbean to provide more accurate weather and monitoring information.
However, the framework lacked important details, such as how the government would pay for the equipment needed to modernize a system that the Federal Aviation Agency struggles to overhaul. The proposal will rely on support from Congress for fundraising.
Speaking about the speakerphone, Duffy, who spoke about the speakerphone at a 90-minute press conference at the Washington agency headquarters, featuring dozens of speakers, including President Trump, described the overhaul as an urgent mission.
“We really need to build the latest, latest art, pneumatic transport control systems,” he said. “We let this go for too long.”
The announcement terrified air traffic controllers and stuck passengers days after a technical shutdown at the air traffic control hub at Newar Liberty International Airport.
Duffy predicted that the project would take three to four years. If lawmakers provide budget money and the government can push some regulatory requirements aside. He refused to provide a cost estimate, except that it would be billions of dollars.
The secretary said he hopes contractors who want to provide services or equipment laid out in the proposal will quickly look into the costs so that Congress can prepare estimates based on information on total prices. He said it takes too long to set a budget first and then wait for the cost calculation to roll in.
Trump spoke to the audience through a cell phone that Duffy had endured the microphone, spurring laughter, asking for recommendations from the crowd about which companies produced the “best system.”
Duffy was attended during the announcement by FAA officials and CEOs, union leaders of the nation’s largest airlines, and officials from the National Road Safety Commission, an aircraft manufacturer. Audiences were part of the 64 family of 64 who died on American Airlines Flight 5342 when it crashed over the Potomac River after a January collision with the Army Black Hawk helicopter. They were repeatedly given the sadness of Dol from Day’s speakers.
The event appeared to be carefully planned. Duffy spoke on a stage lined with outdated electronics and machines, including clumsy radar systems, cables and navigation manuals dated in 1975.
The announcement comes a week after Duffy announced a new initiative focused on recruiting and retaining the necessary air traffic controllers. Among them is a $10,000 award for graduates of the FAA Controller Training Program who have chosen to work in one of 13 facilities that staff are considered difficult.
