Transportation secretary urges industry help to rebuild U.S. air-traffic system, outlines budget and contracting plans
Loading...
Summary
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy told attendees at the Aviation Innovation Summit that the federal government aims to replace core air-traffic infrastructure (BNACS) after decades of piecemeal upgrades, citing a full-program need of about $31.5 billion, a $12.5 billion congressional appropriation, and a new Peraton-managed, performance-based contracting approach.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy told an industry-packed summit that the United States must "build it brand new" — a full replacement of core air-traffic control systems — and urged technology and aviation companies to help deliver a faster, more efficient National Airspace System.
Duffy, the keynote speaker at the Aviation Innovation Summit hosted by Amazon Web Services and the Air Traffic Control Association, said a recent crash near Washington, D.C., prompted a wide-ranging review that exposed aging radios, radar and software across the Federal Aviation Administration's systems. He said the review led to a full-program estimate of roughly $31.5 billion to rebuild hardware, facilities and systems.
Why it matters: Duffy framed BNACS (the administration’s “brand new air-traffic control system” effort) as a once-in-a-generation overhaul intended to replace decades-old analog infrastructure and to meet rising demand from new aircraft types, drones and eVTOLs. He said Congress has provided a $12.5 billion appropriation tied to specific uses and that the department must also secure additional funding to complete the program’s software and automation components.
Duffy described a stepped budget process in which early FAA proposals were in the low billions and then rose to larger totals. "We went to the president, and he signed off on it, 31 and a half billion dollars," he said. He added that Congress provided "the 12 and a half" billion dollars in a single bill and that the department has specific directions from lawmakers on how portions of that money must be used.
Technical priorities and contracting Duffy said the initial, appropriated funds are being directed toward infrastructure that offers immediate safety and resilience benefits: replacing copper telecom with fiber, upgrading surface and other radar, replacing radios and repairing or modernizing towers and centers that in some cases date to the 1950s and 1960s. He warned that hardware upgrades alone will improve resilience but not the system’s overall efficiency — that will require a common automation and software platform.
On program delivery, Duffy said the department has moved to a more outcome-oriented contracting posture. "Peraton, we've hired at the end of the year," he said, describing a structure that ties payment to performance and deliverables rather than the traditional model he said sometimes produced limited results. He added that the FAA is strong on safety but has historically lacked builder expertise, and the department is bringing external technical and program management capabilities to accelerate work.
On prior modernization efforts, Duffy argued that earlier initiatives had substantial spending but limited delivery. "There was a lot of promises, but there wasn't big delivery on NextGen," he said, using that history to justify a full replacement strategy rather than incremental updates.
Emerging vehicles and near-term asks Duffy highlighted drones and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) as part of the reason modernization is urgent. He said regulators must strike a balance between safety and enabling innovation, noting the economic and consumer benefits of new operational models such as drone delivery.
He also called on companies in the room to propose near-term efficiencies that can be deployed before the full BNACS software platform is in place. "If you use what I have, you could actually drive efficiency before... you update all of the hardware in the system," he said, inviting industry ideas to improve operations in the short term.
What’s next Duffy closed by asking for partnership across government and industry to meet an ambitious timetable: hardware and telecom upgrades already funded by the congressional appropriation, followed by a larger software and automation phase that will require additional funding and sustained program management. He said the effort is meant to restore public trust by delivering tangible modernization outcomes.
The summit continued after Duffy’s keynote; officials did not announce a final implementation schedule or specific procurement milestones during the speech.
