Abstract:
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called on Congress to approve $50 billion in emergency funding to overhaul the U.S. air traffic control system after a technical glitch triggered the longest U.S. flight grounding in more than two decades. "This is an emergency," Duffy said at a White House press conference on Friday. He had previously requested about $3 billion to advance the department's upgrade project. "I hope Congress will approve this emergency funding. This matter has bipartisan support. It is related to the security of the United States. I need 50 billion U.S. dollars."
Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Marin said the cause of the failure was data overload on an old router after a new software patch was installed on the entire system, and the relevant investigation is still ongoing.
Duffy said the fault caused intermittent failures in air traffic control communications and radar signals used to guide aircraft.
At the beginning of Trump’s second term, a mid-air collision occurred near Washington in January 2025, killing 67 people. Duffy then launched a multibillion-dollar plan to modernize aging air traffic control infrastructure.
Later that year, Tamiflu received US$12.5 billion in initial funding, but further funding was met with political resistance, despite bipartisan support for the project. This week, the Department of Transportation’s Joint Management and Budget Office issued a letter requesting another $3 billion in funding.
At present, the US Federal Aviation Administration has made certain progress in modernizing communication lines, radar systems and air traffic control equipment.
Duffy said that the newly deployed equipment in the modernization plan was not affected by this failure, but more funds are still needed to build new facilities and completely replace all old equipment.
Airlines expect it will take several days to absorb the impact of Friday's widespread system outage. This is one of several major failures that have hit the U.S. aviation system in recent years. However, only the subsequent shutdown caused by the "9·11" terrorist attacks in 2001 lasted longer and had a more serious impact.
This failure is reminiscent of an accident in September this year: construction workers dug out optical fibers, triggering a chain of failures and paralyzing many airports in the northeastern United States.
In 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration's safety notification system for pilots and dispatchers briefly failed, causing a 90-minute grounding across the United States.
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