US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is warning that Congress must commit billions more in funding for air traffic control modernization, beyond the $12.5 billion already approved in 2025, before work to overhaul the ATC system can even begin.
Speaking at a press event ahead of the Thanksgiving travel rush at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) on November 25, 2025, Duffy said the upcoming holiday surge highlights the need to move forward with a full rebuild of the national ATC network. He noted that while Newark experienced two major ATC outages in the spring of 2025, when radar systems went offline for about 90 seconds during each incident, the DOT, FAA and contractors resolved the problem quickly. As a result, EWR is now the most on-time airport in the New York City region, he said.
“It’s going to be the busiest Thanksgiving we’ve had, and the busiest Christmas, and as it gets busier, it underscores the point that we need a brand new air traffic control system,” Duffy said. “We’re going to have these eVTOLs and Ubers that come into the airspace, and so to sit back and think that we’re not going to have more delays or cancellations is asinine. In the Big Beautiful Bill, we got $12.5 billion to start the process. We need another $19 to $20 billion to complete the process. We can’t start the process until Congress gives us the money, so we wait.”
Duffy said the current funding represents only a down payment on the broader effort to replace decades-old technology still in use across the ATC system, including equipment that relies on floppy disks, paper strips, and other obsolete technology. Until Congress approves the remaining funding, he said, the Department of Transportation cannot get started on the full modernization program outlined by the administration earlier this year.
Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford also visited Newark’s ATC tower, where they sought to reassure travelers that the system will hold up during the holiday period. They pointed to improved staffing levels and recent adjustments to tower staffing, but noted that these are temporary measures until the wider modernization plan is underway.
“This is our Super Bowl,” Bedford said, referencing the flight volumes expected during Thanksgiving week. He said the FAA is focusing on system reliability and preparing for the next era of traffic growth, but emphasized that long-term success depends on replacing aging infrastructure.
According to Duffy, the overhaul plan announced in May 2025 under the Trump administration calls for six new ATC centers (the biggest such build-out since the 1960s) and 15 towers with co-located TRACONs, but the top priority remains upgrading the existing network of centers, towers, radars, radios, surveillance and automation systems.
Industry stakeholders say labor, equipment, and contract qualifications remain major unknowns, but Duffy stressed the window for action is now and bipartisan support exists. The FAA is in the final stages of selecting a prime integrator to manage the program. Until that contract is set, he said, the money will sit idle.
