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DOT, FAA announce accelerated rebuild of U.S. air‑traffic control and name Peraton integrator
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Summary
The Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration said they will replace decades‑old air‑traffic control hardware and software across the national airspace, using a $12.5 billion appropriation and a Peraton integrator contract while asking Congress for more software funding.
Secretary Duffy opened a Washington briefing by saying the DCA crash prompted a review of decades‑old systems and a commitment to “build a brand new air traffic control system.” He framed the effort as a national infrastructure project that will create American manufacturing and installation jobs and vowed "radical transparency" about schedules and progress.
Duffy said the program will use the $12.5 billion in recent federal appropriations as a down payment and that the administration aims to complete major infrastructure work in roughly 2½ to 3 years. “This project is gonna take 10,000,000 labor hours,” he said, and noted the work will take place in thousands of locations nationwide.
Rebecca Guy, the FAA’s chief technology officer, announced Peraton as the agency’s lead systems integrator and described a contract focused on quality and schedule: the integrator will be measured on performance and face penalties for unscheduled outages. "We awarded a one‑in‑a‑lifetime contract to Peraton for our best‑in‑class ... integrator," Guy said.
Justin Ciacio, Peraton’s president, said the company is deploying advanced program‑management tools and described the use of large‑scale analytics (which he called "agentic AI") to track schedules, resources and risks. "Tasks that used to take the team days or weeks are now complete in minutes or even seconds," Ciacio said.
FAA Administrator Brian Bedford said modernization will rely on three pillars — work plans, people and a redesigned national airspace system — and that the upgrades will give controllers better tools while the agency continues a campaign to hire thousands of new controllers.
Officials warned that the $12.5 billion appropriation does not fully cover software development. Duffy told reporters the FAA has identified some internal funds to begin software work but that Congress must provide a further tranche to finish the common automation and cloud/network elements the program will require. "We do need the next tranche for the software," he said, adding that DOT will report progress to Congress quarterly.
The briefing concluded with a public Q&A in which reporters asked about drones, eVTOL aircraft, AI vendors and a recent airline safety incident. Officials said modernization will both accommodate new types of entrants in the airspace and reduce risks created by aging equipment.
Next steps: the FAA and Peraton will continue deployments across the four technical work streams and officials said they will brief Congress and update the public on schedule and milestones.
