FAA head details air traffic control modernization progress, next steps

With modernization efforts ramping up at the Transportation Department’s Federal Aviation Administration, leaders have a sharpened focus on efficiency, safety and accountability, Administrator Bryan Bedford told Congress this week. 

“It’s on everyone’s mind, on this committee and frankly within this administration, that modernization not turn into another NextGen boondoggle,” Bedford said Tuesday during a House hearing that marked his first appearance before Congress since being sworn into office in July. “We need to make sure modernization gets done, gets done on time and achieves the results that we’ve set out before this committee.” 

Bedford was the lone witness in two hearings this week, detailing the state of American aviation to members of a House committee Tuesday and updating senators on the air traffic control modernization initiative Wednesday. 

The FAA will have committed about half of its $12.5 billion budget earmarked for modernizing its air traffic control system by the end of the year, according to Bedford.  

Most of the work tied to the ATC modernization over the past four months has been focused on outlining the end goal, Bedford said, referring to the strategy as a “think slow, then act fast” model. But execution is underway. Bedford pointed to the ongoing deployment of digital radio and voice switches, as well as the conversion of more than one-third of copper lines to fiber thus far. The FAA also plans to close a radar acquisition by the end of the year. 

Earlier this month, the FAA chose Peraton as the integrator overseeing the ATC overhaul, beating competitors IBM and Parsons. Bedford defended the decision Tuesday. 

Peraton “put the entire [Department of Defense] in the cloud, a cyber-secured cloud,” Bedford told the House committee. “Parsons did not have that experience.”

A formal report detailing the ATC modernization efforts is due, by law, in January. Bedford said the administration is on track to have the document ready by the deadline. 

Looking forward 

Despite the progress, there is still a long, bumpy road ahead for the FAA. 

Technology woes within the FAA have dominated headlines this year as reliance on floppy disks and aging software confounded experts. More than 100 of the ATC’s 138 systems were inadequate, according to a Government Accountability Office report published in September 2024. 

“It’s one of the worst-kept secrets in government that the facilities that the FAA operates in today are grossly archaic, obsolete and relatively unsustainable,” Bedford said, adding that the majority of the $4 billion yearly investment from Congress meant to modernize systems goes to sustaining legacy operations. “Literally, we’re putting lipstick on a pig.”

When announcing the ATC integrator contract winner, the FAA said it was looking for an additional $20 billion to complete the three-year project. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been on the Hill this week garnering support for the funds, and Bedford made a case before congressional members, too. 

“Even after we’ve fully utilized this initial $12.5 billion down payment, there are still going to be fundamental problems with the architecture of the systems that need to be addressed in the second level of funding,” Bedford said. “The future if we were to stop would be a more reliable but still inefficient national airspace system.”

The additional funding will address the compute layer, according to Bedford. Each of the 350 FAA facilities has individual compute power, with no ability to see across. The last leg of modernization, which Peraton is set to assist in, will cost around $6 billion. 

The other $14 billion will go toward further modernizing the other properties and facilities if awarded, Bedford said. 

The impacts could reach further than bringing improved reliability to the aviation industry. Bedford said the modernization plan could also help control noise in residential areas as pilots gain the ability to chart more efficient paths, spending less time at low altitudes over densely populated stretches. 

Speed and safety

The stakes are high to bring improved safety and efficiency to the aviation industry, illustrated by the attendance at both hearings of families impacted by the fatal accident involving Flight 5342 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport earlier this year.

Staffing shortages continue to be one of the critical challenges in achieving improved safety and reliability. In a report published Wednesday, the GAO said the FAA should “make better use of data to further improve its recruiting, hiring, and training processes.” 

Bedford said the 43-day government shutdown, which ended in November, added to the staffing strain.  

“Applying the hard lessons we’ve learned from the DCA accident, the FAA safety team identified controller workload and system demand as emerging risk factors, and as a response to this increased risk, we temporarily reduced operations,” Bedford said. 

As ways to mitigate talent constraints are considered, Bedford said an agentwide safety management system is on the priority list, in addition to the other modernization goals. This data-sharing system would enable quicker reactions and analysis of incidents, according to the FAA official. 

The modernization program is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2027. In comparison, previous estimates ran up to two decades. 

Bedford pushed back on senators’ questions about the accelerated timeline and the potential for it to lead to elevated risks and gaps in quality control. 

“It may seem aspirational,” Bedford said. “But it’s absolutely achievable.”