Duffy outlines air traffic control overhaul
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy outlined his ambitions to “radically transform” air traffic control, one of President Trump's goals since returning to office, as mishaps have caused delays and fewer staff at major airports like Newark International.
“We are going to radically transform the way air traffic control looks,” Duffy said Monday evening in an interview on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle.”
“We're going to build a brand-new air traffic control system — from new telecom, to new radars, to new infrastructure. We're bringing on new air traffic controllers," the secretary, a former Fox News personality, continued. “This has been a problem in the decades coming, and we're going to fix it."
Duffy added that the full overhaul plan will be announced Thursday.
The move comes after air traffic controller screens went dark for 30 seconds last week at Newark International Airport in New Jersey, leading to a complete loss of communication between the controllers and the planes.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the union representing controllers, said multiple workers are taking leave for trauma they endured, leading to significant delays at the airport.
Duffy addressed the situation in the Monday night interview, saying the primary communication line went down, and the backup didn’t fire. He said there was no significant risk of collision during that time, since planes have built-in communication devices and GPS signals that allow the pilots to monitor air traffic.
He noted that both systems have since been fixed, “but it's a sign that we have a frail system in place."
The Transportation chief added that officials have slowed traffic at Newark airport as a result, comparing the situation to “driving down the road at 70 miles an hour and you get white paint in your windshield, you slow down.”
“So, we've slowed the traffic down at Newark. There's a runway that's under construction, and our primary goal is to make sure people are safe,” Duffy said Monday.
“When you have an incident like this, you want to make sure that people are safe," he added. "And so, you just have less departures out of the airport until we feel comfortable and safe that the system isn't going to go down again.”
His remarks come as air traffic control shortages have been in headlines following significant airline incidents, including a deadly collision earlier this year between an Army helicopter and a passenger plane near the nation's capital. Other accidents have also prompted lawmakers to propose funding to mondernize the air traffic systems.
Workforce reductions at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have also raised concerns.