Officials promised to replace derelict equipment with state-of-the-art technology but said funding was dependent on Congress.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled an ambitious air-traffic control modernization plan on Thursday, promising to make air travel in the United States safer and more efficient by investing in a raft of new technology.
The eight-page framework seeks to upgrade the radio systems that controllers use to communicate with pilots, replace copper wiring with fiber optics, digitize flight data management tools and update deteriorating air-traffic control facilities around the country. It also proposes deploying new technologies to Alaska and the Caribbean to provide more accurate weather and surveillance information.
But the framework was missing key details, including how the government would pay for the equipment necessary to modernize a system that the Federal Aviation Agency has struggled to overhaul. The proposals will be dependent on support from Congress for funding.
In a 90-minute news conference at the agency’s headquarters in Washington that featured dozens of speakers including President Trump, who made remarks over a speakerphone, Mr. Duffy described the overhaul as an urgent mission.
“We actually have to build a brand-new, state of the art, air-traffic control system,” he said. “We have let this go for far too long.”
The announcement came just days after a technical outage at the air traffic control hub for Newark Liberty International Airport that terrified air traffic controllers and stranded passengers.