Key facts
- The White House and Department of Transportation requested $30.1 billion for airports and air traffic control.
- The request includes $10.1 billion for air traffic control modernization and $18 billion for airport-related projects.
- $7.2 billion of the modernization funds would go to a common automation platform and controller workstations.
- $2 billion is sought for cloud computing and $2 billion to replace and improve FAA control towers.
- American, Delta, United and Southwest airlines have expressed support for the request.
- The FAA has replaced 68% of its legacy copper telecommunications network with fiber infrastructure.
The White House and the Department of Transportation on Friday asked Congress to approve an additional $30.1 billion to upgrade the country's aging airports and air traffic control system, arguing the investment is needed to complete modernization of what the letter describes as the world's most complex airspace.
The request was made in a letter from Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who urged lawmakers to act swiftly. Of the total, $10.1 billion is earmarked for air traffic control modernization, including $7.2 billion for a common automation platform and controller workstations and $2 billion for cloud computing. Another $2 billion would replace and improve FAA air traffic control towers, and $18 billion would go to airport-related projects, including $10 billion to modernize or replace aging terminals.
"This investment is critical to complete the modernization of our national airspace - delivering a resilient telecommunications backbone for air traffic controllers, modern hardware and software, state-of-the-art control towers, and world-class airport infrastructure," Duffy and Vought wrote.
Major airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines have expressed support for the request. The push follows a series of disruptions: in January 2025, a midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport killed 67 people, and in September the dual failures of a circuit at a Philadelphia air traffic facility and the accidental severing of a fiber-optic cable in New Jersey by a construction crew delayed or canceled thousands of flights across the densely populated Northeast.
Congress already approved $12.5 billion over five years in July 2025 to upgrade air traffic control and increase controller hiring after complaints about airport congestion, flight delays and technology problems. The FAA relies on decades-old computers and replacement parts bought through auction websites; last week it said it would replace by the end of 2028 the floppy disks used for weather and other critical information at more than 400 air traffic control facilities. Vought and Duffy said the agency has replaced 68% of its legacy copper telecommunications network with high-speed fiber infrastructure.
The administration wants the Republican-led Congress to approve the funding in the final weeks of the year. Democrats are set to take control of Congress in January.