Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy now says the federal government is preparing to “radically transform” the country’s antiquated air traffic control system – after a series of troubling incidents, and consistent staffing shortages within the airline industry.
In an interview earlier this week, Duffy, a former television personality turned cabinet official, said that America’s aviation industry is being completely rebuilt, including upgraded radar systems and telecom systems and a new wave of hiring efforts in the air traffic controller field.
“We’re going to build a brand-new air traffic control system – from new telecom, to new radars, to new infrastructure. We’re bringing on new air traffic controllers,” Duffy told Fox News. “This has been a problem in the decades coming, and we’re going to fix it.”
Duffy’s announcement comes only a few days after a series of failures at the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. Traffic control screens allegedly went dark for around 30 seconds, cutting off all communication between the tower and incoming airplanes.
Although no major accidents occurred during those 30 seconds or so, the glitch allegedly led to a large number of delays and also simply highlighted growing concerns within the FAA’s current safety system.
“Hiring more air traffic controllers is a top priority,” the FAA stated. “Specifically in the Newark airspace, the FAA is addressing a decades-long issue of staffing and has been transparent with airlines and travelers about our plan.”
According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, some Newark employees have even taken trauma leave following the blackout glitch.
The urgency to demand safer flight standards, in general, has grown across the country after a collection of recent high-profile flight accidents, including the deadly collision earlier this year between a commercial aircraft and an Army helicopter outside of D.C., as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
President Donald Trump has demanded a new set of FAA regulation standards in light of Biden’s DEI-leaning initiatives in the airline industry.