New site aims to track $12.5 billion in air traffic control system upgrades

Just as the TSA expects to screen more than 18 million flyers for Memorial Day weekend, the Department of Transportation is rolling out a new website tracking the $12.5 billion effort to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system.

The Modern Skies website aims to highlight more than 10,000 projects underway nationwide and will include summaries of key projects and a progress tracker, updated monthly, with the status of work completed and projects still underway. Also part of the site is an interactive map that breaks down projects by city, state, airport, ZIP code or congressional district, showing completed projects and work that’s upcoming in the next month.

“One of the reasons past air traffic control modernization efforts failed was a lack of transparency. We’re taking a different approach — letting every American get a front row view of how President Trump is revolutionizing our skies,” Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a statement to CBS News.  

“We’re forecasting 5.4 million flights from Memorial Day through Labor Day weekend,” Duffy added. “That surging demand underscores why the work we’re doing is so important.”

With funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the FAA is working to replace aging infrastructure with new radar systems, radios, fiber optic cables and upgraded aircraft tracking technology for when planes are moving around on the ground at airports and in the air.

Duffy has pledged to complete significant upgrades to the nation’s aviation system by 2028. Plans include:

• Replacing copper wire telecommunications connections;
• 27,000 new radios;
• 450 new digital voice switches;
• 612 new radar systems;
• Surface awareness surveillance systems to monitor planes on the ground at over 200 airports;
• Upgrading hundreds to control towers.

“The FAA is undertaking the most significant transformation of America’s air traffic control system in generations, and we are committed to being transparent and accountable every step of the way,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a statement. “The American people deserve a clear view of how these investments are being executed and the progress being made to modernize our skies. Now, we’re sharing that directly with the flying public as we start the busy summer travel season.”

At a Senatel hearing on Tuesday, Bedford testified about the growing strain on air traffic control.

“With more than 18,000,000 flights managed and over one billion passenger movements traveling across our skies annually, our current system has reached its limits,” he said. “Without a doubt, the U.S. aviation system is recognized as the largest and most complex aviation system in the world. However, now we face the additional demands of drones, advanced air mobility, supersonic operations, and a near daily cadence of space launches.”

He urged Congress to provide “critical funding” needed to get the work done.

“The build is happening,” Duffy told CBS News in April as he marked the first anniversary of his effort to upgrade the system. “We have a two-and-a-half-year window, and we’re going to accomplish what we promised.”

The new website says the work to replace copper wiring is 51% complete, as are 18% of the radio conversions. Among the upcoming projects in the next month are efforts to install new surface awareness systems at two airports and deploying a new radar system.

Duffy and Bedford are now asking Congress for billions more dollars to build a suite of AI software tools they believe will improve efficiency and safety in the skies.

“This software will say, We can see this 45 days out. Let’s manage that before it actually happens. Let’s move some of those flights a little bit later — 5, 7, 10 minutes later, or 5, 7, 10 minutes earlier — and we can resolve the issue. And so then you are not delayed,” Duffy told CBS News in April.