$12.5B Slotted for ATC Revamp After Congress Approves Federal Budget

Trump’s championed ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ set to fund air safety reform efforts.

Caleb Revill

Thursday, July 03, 2025 at 07:34 PM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An air traffic control tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. [Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The "Big Beautiful Bill," passed by Republican majorities despite bipartisan opposition, allocates $12.5 billion for air traffic control (ATC) modernization and aviation safety reforms.
This substantial funding targets critical upgrades, including replacing radar systems, modernizing telecommunications infrastructure, enhancing runway safety technologies, and building a new ATC center, and is set to be signed into law by President Trump.

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The “Big Beautiful Bill” is on course to allocate $12.5 billion for air traffic control (ATC) modernization and aviation safety reform efforts after Republican majorities in both the House and Senate voted to approve the new federal budget this week.

The bill was initially approved by the House in late May. A month later, the Senate voted 51-50 to approve an amended version of the bill, which went back to the House for another approval on Thursday.