Duffy Lays Out Sweeping ATC Modernization Plan

Project calls for the construction of six new centers and 15 towers.

Zach Vasile

Thursday, May 08, 2025 at 03:42 PM ET

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Edited By:

Travis Tingle

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

Key Takeaways:

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a comprehensive plan to fully modernize the outdated U.S. air traffic control (ATC) system, deeming the current infrastructure "not worth saving" after recent disruptions, including a blackout at Newark Airport.
The ambitious plan, slated for completion by 2028, involves constructing six new ATC centers and 15 towers with co-located TRACONs, alongside a complete technological overhaul to replace obsolete equipment with state-of-the-art digital telecommunications, surveillance, and automation systems.
This modernization effort, which seeks significant upfront funding from Congress and has broad support from industry, airlines, and unions, also runs concurrently with recent initiatives to address the chronic nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers.

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With Newark Liberty International Airport (KEWR) still recovering from a 90-second air traffic control blackout that left pilots in the dark, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy laid out plans to modernize the entire country’s ATC system and build new centers and towers.

“The system we have here is not worth saving,” Duffy said at a press conference Thursday. “I don’t need to preserve any of this, it’s too old. You have a 1960s Volkswagen Beetle you’re using for transportation. I don’t want to use the Beetle, I want a brand-new car. And that’s what we’re building, a brand new car.”