OPINION:
President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy are right: America deserves a brand-new, state-of-the-art air traffic control (ATC) system.
“We’re all going to do a great computerized system for our control towers, brand-new, not pieced together, obsolete,” President Trump said when discussing his plans for a new air traffic control system.
We’re grateful to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., for including $12.5 billion in funding to modernize air traffic control in the House reconciliation bill. This funding is a critical down payment on the upgrades President Trump and Secretary Duffy have promised, but it shouldn’t be where the investments stop.
“We are going to need a lot more money, but this is the one vehicle we have to start the build right now. I hope the Congress does its work. Frankly, I hope the Congress finds more money.” Secretary Duffy said at an event in California last week. The Secretary has called for at least $20 billion in funding for the air traffic control overhaul.
As the Senate considers reconciliation, Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said this week that “failure is not an option,” and “we have to get it done.” For years, Sen. Cruz has fully understood the importance of having a modern and effective air traffic control system, and we appreciate him championing this effort.
Modernizing air traffic control should not be something that divides lawmakers. With millions of Americans flying every single day, they deserve to have the gold standard. But without modern technology we cannot claim that distinction.
There’s widespread support for modernizing ATC across the aviation industry. The Modern Skies Coalition a diverse group of more than 50 organizations across industry, labor and manufacturing that are all united in the goal to modernize the U.S. air traffic control system.
Air travel is more popular than ever. The TSA recently recorded its busiest day in the agency’s history, screening nearly 3.1 million people June 22. Every day, U.S. airlines fly 27,000 flights, transporting 2.7 million passengers and 61,000 tons of cargo around the world. Commercial aviation is also critical to our economy, accounting for 5% of the U.S. GDP and supporting more than 10 million jobs.
In recent years, our aviation system has become much like an old car. It costs more to keep fixing parts than it would to purchase a brand-new vehicle. Currently, roughly 90% of Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) budget for Facilities and Equipment (F&E) goes to sustainment meaning we’re spending the bulk on maintaining old systems than investing in new ones.
Furthermore, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that 37% of all air traffic control systems are unsustainable, citing outdated functionality and a lack of spare parts.
If you can believe it, we are still using floppy disks and paper strips in facilities across the country. Nobody in my office under the age of thirty even knows what a floppy disk is! This technology belongs in a time capsule, not in our air traffic control towers.
This year alone we’ve seen numerous ATC outages, staffing shortages and a devastating crash that resulted in the loss of 67 lives. We cannot keep maintaining the status quo. We owe it to the American traveling public to get this done.
U.S. airlines will never compromise on safety. We ask that Congress do the same and work to fund the critical upgrades President Trump and Secretary Duffy have called for.
• Nicholas E. Calio is the president and CEO of Airlines for America (A4A).
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