{"id":238169,"date":"2025-05-12T14:14:32","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T14:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/airline\/the-us-government-tries-to-fix-air-traffic-control-again-cranky-flier\/"},"modified":"2025-05-12T14:14:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T14:14:32","slug":"the-us-government-tries-to-fix-air-traffic-control-again-cranky-flier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=238169","title":{"rendered":"The US Government Tries to Fix Air Traffic Control\u2026 Again \u2013 Cranky Flier"},"content":{"rendered":"


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I stopped counting long ago, but there have been many, many attempts to try to modernize the US\u2019s air traffic control (ATC) system over the years. As The Air Current<\/a>\u2018s Will Guisbond told us in last week\u2019s The Air Show podcast<\/a>, there was an article written back in 1996 on the subject that could have been written yesterday. But it had been pretty quiet on anything actually getting done on that front in recent years with the Department of Transportation (DOT) more interested in overly-burdensome supposedly pro-consumer rules than actually doing the most pro-consumer thing that can be done\u2026 fixing ATC. This year, well, stuff is happening, and now we have the concepts of a plan. I don\u2019t expect this to actually happen exactly as it\u2019s being pitched, but I\u2019m sure happy DOT is trying.<\/p>\n

The news this year has finally brought things to a head. First, we had the mid-air collision between the American Eagle CRJ-700 and the Army Blackhawk helicopter. This, to be clear, likely had absolutely nothing to do with an air traffic control problem, but during the blame game, ATC took some stray bullets anyway. Then more recently we\u2019ve had the train wreck that is Newark. I don\u2019t need to go into full details (again, listen to The Air Show<\/a> from last week or just keep watching the news for continued failures), but it has seemingly brought some urgency to the idea that air traffic control needs help sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

As I said on the pod, I was holding out hope that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy would be able to make something happen. After all, if there\u2019s one thing this administration likes to do, it\u2019s move fast and break stuff. This is the kind of thing I\u2019d be happy to see them move fast on, and well, that\u2019s the gist of what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n

Last week, Duffy rolled out the inspiringly-titled \u201cBrand New Air Traffic Control System.\u201d It even has a logo that looks like someone just hastily went through a clipart library, so you know they mean business.<\/p>\n

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This is both ambitious and also\u2026 not at all. You can read the press release filled with mindless quotes<\/a>, but I\u2019d recommend reading through the modest 8-page proposal<\/a> to get a real sense of what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n

When I say it\u2019s ambitious, I mean it is going to require a lot of money in a short time to make a lot happen. But when I say it\u2019s not, it\u2019s because most of this is just accelerating existing projects as opposed to reinventing the wheel. It is also light on details, including the amount of money that\u2019ll be required. But it\u2019s hard to criticize at this point, because it\u2019s better than nothing, which is what we\u2019ve had for too long.<\/p>\n

So what is in this little gem? You probably don\u2019t want to know, because it\u2019ll make you wonder how the heck we\u2019re even still functioning today. But here\u2019s what\u2019s planned to be done in short order.<\/p>\n

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