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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled a comprehensive plan to modernize the outdated U.S. air traffic control (ATC) system, deeming the current infrastructure "not worth saving" following recent incidents like the Newark airport blackout.
The modernization project, aiming for completion by 2028, will replace 1970s and '80s technology with state-of-the-art telecommunications, radios, surveillance, and automation systems, and involve constructing six new ATC centers and 15 towers.
The White House plans to seek all necessary funding from Congress upfront, and the initiative has broad support from airlines, industry groups, and air traffic controller unions.
This overhaul is distinct from, but complementary to, recent efforts to address the chronic shortage of air traffic controllers, which is also contributing to aviation disruptions.

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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.”