White House Needs $19 Billion More To Fix Air Traffic Control

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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled an aerial postulation power overhaul scheme successful May, blandly named "Brand New Air Traffic Control System." He wouldn't put a value tag connected a monolithic modernization scheme, but it was allocated $12.5 cardinal done President Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill." Lo and behold, Duffy announced connected Wednesday that he's going to request $19 cardinal more. Surprisingly, nan $31.5 cardinal full is beautiful overmuch precisely what nan aviation manufacture estimated nan last costs would beryllium successful May.

It's adjacent to opportunity that nan Federal Aviation Administration should spare nary disbursal erstwhile it comes to bringing aerial postulation power into nan 21st century. Just 9 days into Trump's 2nd term, an American Airlines location pitchy and an Army chopper collided successful mid-air complete nan Potomac River adjacent Reagan National Airport successful Washington, DC, sidesplitting 67 people. The startling clang forced nan White House to reconsider its scheme to gut nan FAA for illustration nan remainder of nan national government. According to CNN, Duffy said astatine Wednesday's House Transportation and Infrastructure committee meeting:

"We will request much [money] to do it. We're talking $31.5 cardinal to do nan afloat task and my dream is that we'll person an further speech astir really we tin do that. I deliberation clip is of nan essence."

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While aerial postulation controllers admit that nan instrumentality modernization is overmuch needed, they person made it known that it would only resoluteness portion of nan problem. Controllers find it highly difficult to get a time disconnected arsenic requests tin beryllium denied owed to chronic understaffing. One controller told NPR:

"We can't person an disconnected day. We can't person a time wherever we travel successful and say, 'oh, I'm conscionable benignant of not emotion it today. I'm conscionable going to, you know, benignant of cruise done nan day.' We don't get that chance. You locomotion into activity and you person to beryllium 100% mistake-free fundamentally successful your full profession or, you know, group die."

The staggering magnitude of overtime is simply a clear parameter of really overmuch controllers are systemically overworked. According to Reuters, FAA aerial postulation power unit logged 2.2 cardinal hours of overtime past year, costing nan agency an other $200 million. The White House can't simply propulsion money astatine nan problem to lick it overnight. A existent solution will require a concerted effort complete nan people of years to bring staffing levels crossed nan state to a precocious capable constituent that controllers tin simply return a time off.