Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on May 8 announced an ambitious plan to overhaul and upgrade the nation’s air traffic control systems, fulfilling a key policy goal he has advocated for since assuming his post leading the Department of Transportation earlier this year.
Duffy said plans include upgrading telecommunication lines to fiber optics, rebuilding some air traffic control towers and Terminal Radar Approach Controls (TRACONs), and implementing new radios in towers to “communicate between air traffic controllers and with airplanes.”
“We’re going to rebuild some centers, not all of them, but we’re going to rebuild a few of them that need to be rebuilt,” Duffy said at a press conference.
TRACONs are a type of FAA facility used for handling the safe separation of planes and other aircraft within the airspace around airports.
The transportation secretary said the plans also include new ground radar sensors on airport tarmacs.
