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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a comprehensive plan to completely overhaul the outdated U.S. air traffic control (ATC) system, following disruptions at Newark Airport.
The modernization will replace obsolete 1960s-80s technology with state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, including building six new ATC centers and 15 towers, and transitioning to Internet Protocol and advanced telecommunications.
Projected for completion by 2028, the initiative seeks upfront congressional funding and has broad support from airlines, industry groups, and air traffic controller unions, alongside separate efforts to address a chronic controller shortage.

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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.”