OPINION:
On the eve of a historic summit with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in September, disaster nearly struck Air Force One. Flying over New York, a passenger jet violated safe separation limits, bringing the president’s plane within terrifying proximity of catastrophe.
This close call, which put the president’s life in jeopardy, was not an isolated event. It is, though, a glaring symptom of a crisis plaguing America’s skies.
With crippling systemwide outages at major hubs, such as Dallas-Fort Worth, and a constant drumbeat of near-miss outages at airports such as Newark, the trust that millions of Americans place in our aviation system erodes with every narrow escape. Past administrations have allowed numerous problems to go unaddressed. Not President Trump. He has set a path for a once-in-a-generation overhaul of our air traffic control system, a plan to finally root out the rot at the core of our system, which is responsible for passenger safety.
Let’s be clear about what that near tragedy with Air Force One represents. It was not a failure of the pilots or of the air traffic controllers who work with antiquated tools. It was a complete and undeniable failure of technology. When the commander in chief’s aircraft is placed in jeopardy, it exposes an unacceptable reality: that the systems that underpin our nation’s air travel operate on borrowed time. What Air Force One and all other planes rely on is a system held together with duct tape and baling wire. Reliance on antiquated, decades-old technology makes these terrifying events statistically inevitable, demonstrating that modernization is not only overdue but also a national security imperative.
The Federal Aviation Administration has shared that recent failures, such as the Dallas-Fort Worth airport outages, are linked to systemic mistakes and outdated systems, which are susceptible to various problems. In fact, air traffic controllers are using a core computer system that runs on software dating back to the 1970s, when bell-bottoms were cool and the seeds of the internet were planted. Instead of automatic updates providing cybersecurity, FAA technicians have been forced to scrap pieces from decommissioned hardware to replace damaged equipment.
Those bright, flashing warning signs, from near-collisions in the sky to meltdowns on the ground, demand an immediate intervention and a complete turnaround. Since returning to office, Mr. Trump has worked tirelessly to make our government more efficient. Now, he and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have an opportunity to do what others have only talked about: execute a complete reset of our air traffic control system. Their plan is not one of small adjustments; it will cut through the bureaucratic delays, remove failed legacy contractors and inept bureaucrats, and finally put American travelers first.
This is not the first attempt at a system reset. “NextGen” was an ambitious, multidecade modernization of U.S. air traffic control and airspace systems, with roots dating back to the early 2000s and formal FAA deployment beginning in the mid-2000s. NextGen has fallen well short of many of its original transformational promises. By late 2024, only about 16% of the projected benefits were realized. Major failures include schedule delays, cost overruns, integration complexity, interoperability issues with legacy systems, inadequate reporting transparency, critical system outages, and overly optimistic projections. Its cost is substantial and may exceed $30 billion to $35 billion.
The Trump administration must deliver an air traffic control system that once again stands as the world’s gold standard, built by true innovators ready to deliver results, not by the same entrenched FAA bureaucrats who have spent decades recycling failure. Continuing to funnel contracts through the same insiders and their revolving-door private sector counterparts will enrich a few while the system stagnates and standards decline. Expecting different results from the same FAA bureaucracy that created this legacy of inefficiency is the very definition of air traffic control insanity. Failure is assured.
This is about more than avoiding disaster; it’s about unlocking the full potential of American aviation. A modernized system that embraces Defined Interval, a cost-effective and immediately available technology for managing aircraft spacing, can slash the chronic delays that drain billions of dollars from our economy, give our overburdened controllers the 21st-century tools they need, and restore passenger confidence in the safety and reliability of our skies.
Mr. Trump understands that we cannot trust the architects of the problem to be the architects of the solution because modernizing air traffic control can’t be just about new radios and more controllers. Updating this system and its standards requires new, bold thinking at the FAA to leave the second-rate system of the past behind and choose a fresh approach to deliver the safety and reliability that our nation is crying out for. Just as American innovators before refused to accept the limitations of their time, we must refuse to accept the limitations of ours. The time for excuses is over. The moment has arrived for America to reclaim a golden age of aviation and establish an air traffic control system for the future.
• Michael Pearson is a pilot, an aviation law professor at Arizona State University and a trial lawyer at Curry, Pearson, & Wooten PLC. Rick Castaldo is a U.S. Navy veteran and retired radar systems engineer.
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