The world's most complex airspace has experienced a series of events in recent years that have disrupted flights and risked safety. In January 2025, a midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport killed 67 people.
The White House and Department of Transportation on Friday urged Congress to approve a further $30.1 billion to upgrade the United States' aging airports and air traffic control system.
The world's most complex airspace has experienced a series of events in recent years that have disrupted flights and risked safety. In January 2025, a midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport killed 67 people.
Congress has already approved $12.5 billion over five years in July 2025 to upgrade air traffic control and increase the hiring of controllers following complaints about airport congestion, flight delays and technology problems.
The request from White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy seeks $10.1 billion for air traffic control modernization, including $7.2 billion for a common automation platform and controller workstations and $2 billion for cloud computing.
"This investment is critical to complete the modernization of our national airspace - delivering a resilient telecommunications backbone for air traffic controllers, modern hardware and software, state-of-the-art control towers, and world-class airport infrastructure," Duffy and Vought wrote to lawmakers asking for swift action.
