Articles

# ICYMI: Trump Administration’s Plan to Modernize Air Traffic Control System

The White House
May 8, 2025

Today, President Donald J. Trump and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy unveiled a plan to completely overhaul the nation’s air traffic control system — taking action where the Biden Administration refused, despite repeat warnings.

The announcement — which builds on the Trump Administration’s unprecedented actions to secure America’s skies and improve air travel — was praised by the nation’s major airlines:

- United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby: “This really is an historic day — a day I have been looking forward to my entire career when I felt like we have turned the corner and are on the path to give the United States the best-in-class air traffic control system that the citizens of the United States deserve.”
- American Airlines CEO Robert Isom: “I’ve been in the airline business a long time, and that entire time, I’ve known that the U.S. air traffic control system was operating on antiquated technology. This plan from President Trump and Secretary Duffy is absolutely the best opportunity that we’ve had in decades to do something about our outdated air traffic control infrastructure and build a best-in-class system that our country deserves.”
- Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian: “I want to especially thank Secretary Duffy and the Administration for gathering us all here today and taking such a strong approach to overhauling our air traffic control system in the U.S. This has been a long time coming.”
- Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan: “I cannot say enough thanks to Secretary Duffy, to the administration, to President Trump for the stellar leadership to bring everyone together on this problem. This challenge is decades old, but I am absolutely confident that we can get this done and that we are finally going to address the real problem.”
- JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty: “We very much appreciate the leadership that you are bringing to this ATC modernization effort … This has quite literally been our number one priority for decades. I am proud to stand here today with what appears to be a solution and path to move forward.”

Key aspects of the Trump Administration’s plan include:

- Replacing outdated infrastructure with state-of-the-art fiber, wireless, and satellite technologies at over 4,600 air traffic control sites — including 25,000 new radios, 600+ new radars, and 475 new voice switches.
- Building six new air traffic control coordination centers for the first time in six decades.
- Replacing towers and TRACONs and implementing modern hardware and software at all air traffic facilities to create a common platform throughout the network.

Click here to learn more about the Trump Administration’s plan

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