A new FAA web page purports to pull back the curtain on the agency’s ongoing air traffic control (ATC) modernization push, which American taxpayers are funding to the tune of $12.5 billion.
Launched Friday ahead of the busy Memorial Day Weekend, the website is intended to give taxpayers a “transparent, up-close view” of more than 10,000 projects happening nationwide, per a news release. Users can input their city, state, ZIP code, or local airport to generate a custom report that captures local progress and efforts planned in the next 30 days.
“The FAA is undertaking the most significant transformation of America’s air traffic control system in generations, and we are committed to being transparent and accountable every step of the way,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford in a statement. “The American people deserve a clear view of how these investments are being executed and the progress being made to modernize our skies.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy added that a lack of transparency undermined previous ATC modernization efforts. The FAA’s earlier NextGen project delivered just 16 percent of its promised benefits while costing taxpayers $36 billion, a federal watchdog reported in October.
The new site contains a summary of the thousands of radar, software, hardware, and telecommunications upgrades that officials hope to complete by 2028. Toward the bottom is a tracker that the FAA said will be updated monthly with progress.
For example, the agency is replacing miles of old copper wiring with fiber-optic, satellite, and wireless connections to prevent radar and communications blackouts like those that occurred last year at Newark Liberty International Airport (KEWR) in New Jersey. Per the website, just over half of more than 5,000 planned transitions are complete.
The FAA also said it has installed 69 out of 220 planned surface awareness initiative (SAI) systems, 62 out of 450 digital voice switches, four out of 612 radar systems, and electronic flight strips at 17 out of 89 airports. Of more than 1,500 planned radio site conversions, 282 are complete. Officials in April said that includes 3,000 out of 27,000 radio upgrades.
Per the tracker, a further 56 telecommunications upgrades, 25 radio site conversions, 23 voice switch installations, and pair of SAI deployments are upcoming. The effort also calls for Enterprise-Information Display Systems (E-IDS) at 435 facilities, tower simulation systems at 113 towers, and 174 new weather camera systems in Alaska. The Transportation Department (DOT) this month invested more than $800 million to replace old towers and terminal facilities.
In total, the effort comprises more than 4,600 sites and an estimated 10 million labor hours across 52 vendors, the FAA said.
“We’re forecasting 5.4 million flights from Memorial Day through Labor Day weekend—54,000 [Friday] alone,” said Duffy. “That surging demand underscores why the work we’re doing is so important.”
Friday’s news release noted that the $12.5 billion backing the effort—allocated by Congress last year—is an “initial” investment. Duffy has estimated the DOT will require a further $20 billion to cover all of the projects it has planned.
Among these is the Strategic Management of Airspace Routing Trajectories (SMART) system that officials discussed candidly for the first time in April. Per an executive of Thales—one of the three firms rumored to be competing for SMART—the FAA envisions the system predicting weather, traffic, and other airspace conditions up to six months in advance.
Combined with other ATC improvements planned or underway, SMART could help optimize nationwide air traffic to minimize disruptions, including delays, cancellations, and short staffing in the control tower.
