Sean Duffy demands $50B to rebuild aging air traffic control system

November 14, 2026:

Sean Duffy demands $50B to rebuild aging air traffic control system

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed outdated routers and decades-old technology for the nationwide FAA ground stop Friday, warning that the system will continue to fail unless Congress provides $50 billion to fund a complete overhaul.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed outdated routers and decades-old technology for Friday’s nationwide Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ground stop, urging Congress to approve $50 billion in emergency funding to rebuild the country’s aging air traffic control system.

Speaking at a White House news conference Friday evening, Duffy said the FAA began experiencing instability in its radar and communications systems around 3:36 p.m. ET, prompting the agency to issue a nationwide ground stop out of an abundance of caution.

Duffy attributed the disruption to outdated switches and routers that became overloaded with data, leading to inconsistent information reaching air traffic controllers.

“We have old, old switches, old routers. We use 1980s little copper lines,” Duffy said.

NATIONWIDE FAA GROUND STOP LIFTED BUT CANCELLATIONS, SIGNIFICANT DELAYS TO CONTINUE: TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed aging air traffic control equipment for Friday’s nationwide FAA ground stop, warning that the system would remain vulnerable to future disruptions without major upgrades. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters / Reuters)

Without a complete overhaul, Duffy warned that the nation’s aging air traffic control infrastructure would remain vulnerable to future disruptions.

“What went down was old, right? It was the old legacy equipment. It failed,” he said.

“And listen, it’s going to continue to fail.”

The transportation secretary called on Congress to provide $50 billion to modernize the nation’s air traffic control infrastructure, including replacing aging hardware, telecommunications equipment and control towers.

JETBLUE CREDITORS HIRE ADVISORS AS FINANCIAL CONCERNS GROW: REPORT

American Airlines planes remain at their gates, as a Delta Air Lines plane sits on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport on Friday in Queens, N.Y. (Adam Gray/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“This is an emergency. I want Congress to give us emergency funding,” Duffy said. “This is bipartisan. This is American. I want $50 billion.”

While Duffy noted the Trump administration had already secured $12.5 billion toward modernization efforts, he argued that additional funding was still necessary to complete the overhaul.

The FAA’s previous modernization efforts have included a nearly $5 billion contract awarded to Rohde & Schwarz USA in April to replace up to 462 outdated voice communication switches.

More than 40 new switches have since been installed, according to FLYING magazine, while federal officials have also reported replacing roughly half of the aging copper wiring used to transmit radar and communications data with modern connections.

JETMAKER BOMBARDIER DOUBLES DOWN ON US INVESTMENT IN DEAL TOUTED BY TRUMP

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called on Congress to provide $50 billion in emergency funding to modernize the nation’s aging air traffic control system following a nationwide ground stop. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters / Reuters)

Duffy also said newer equipment installed under the Trump administration had not experienced the same failures as the older infrastructure. He argued that replacing the entire system would be more effective than continuing to make temporary repairs.

The issue, Duffy asserted, should be treated as a national priority rather than a partisan dispute.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

“This is not one of those issues,” he said. “This is an American issue.”

The FAA reopened U.S. airspace at approximately 8:15 p.m. ET, but Duffy warned that it would take time for airlines to resume normal operations.

Source link

tags

Abkhazia Afghanistan Africa Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curacao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Fiji Finland France French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Northern Cyprus Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Transnistria Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda UK Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uruguay USA Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe