US transportation chief to unveil plan to upgrade air traffic control

Adds more details, comment from Duffy, background in paragraphs 2-12

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will unveil a plan next week to upgrade the aging, under-staffed U.S. air traffic control system next week, he said on Friday.

Duffy said earlier this month that he planned to ask Congress for tens of billions of dollars for a multi-year effort to revamp Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control infrastructure, including buying new radar systems and new air traffic control terminals and boosting hiring after a series of aviation safety incidents raised alarm.

Duffy said Friday that he had briefed President Donald Trump, who wants "to create a state-of-the-art, brand new air control system" and supports the reform plan.

Duffy also wants new runway safety technology so controllers don't need to rely on binoculars to see airplanes and to end the use of floppy disks and other ancient technology.

Last month, the U.S. aviation sector called for "robust emergency funding" from Congress for air traffic control technology and staffing after the collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines AAL.O regional airliner in January that killed 67 people .

Duffy wants a faster replacement of aging copper wire telecommunications gear and other upgrades. "We're going to go to fiber, wireless and satellite," he said this month, criticizing Verizon's VZ.N efforts.

A persistent shortage of controllers has delayed flights and, at many facilities, controllers are working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks to cover shifts.

The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and has about 10% fewer controllers than it did in 2012.

The Government Accountability Office says the FAA must take urgent action to address aging air traffic control systems, saying that one-third are unsustainable.

A 2023 report said the FAA's communications system has been outdated for years and the agency can no longer get spare parts for many systems.

In March 2024, former President Joe Biden proposed $8 billion over five years to replace or modernize more than 20 aging air traffic control facilities and 377 critical radar systems. A quarter of all FAA facilities are 50 years old or older.

The FAA has numerous air traffic control facilities with leaking roofs, broken elevators and heating and air conditioning systems and surveillance radar systems that must soon be replaced at a cost of billions of dollars.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Diane Craft)

((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))