GAO Report Urges Air Traffic Control Modernization

U.S. Government Accountability Office has identified 105 unsustainable or potentially unsustainable ATC systems.

Tuesday, March 04, 2025 at 03:56 PM ET

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The U.S. Government Accountability Office stated in its report that of the FAA’s 138 air traffic control systems, 51 were unsustainable and 54 were potentially unsustainable. [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) urged the FAA to modernize its air traffic control (ATC) systems, finding that 37% are unsustainable and 39% are potentially unsustainable, many of which are decades old.
This call for modernization was prompted by a 2023 outage of the aging NOTAM system, which caused a two-hour national airspace shutdown, resulting in over 1,300 flight cancellations and nearly 10,000 delays.
The GAO identified weaknesses in FAA's investment management for modernization, noting that completion dates for critical system upgrades are 6-10 years away or lack associated investments entirely.
Long-standing challenges include unavailability of parts, the retirement of expert technicians, and increased airspace demand, all of which compromise the safety and efficiency of air traffic.

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The U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) published a report Tuesday urging the FAA to modernize systems for air traffic control (ATC).

The 17-page report was commissioned by GAO after an “aging” ATC system outage caused a shutdown of the national airspace in 2023. This prompted the FAA to conduct an operational risk assessment to evaluate the sustainability of all ATC systems.

Caleb Revill

Caleb Revill is a journalist, writer and lifelong learner working as a Junior Writer for Firecrown. When he isn't tackling breaking news, Caleb is on the lookout for fascinating feature stories.