‘It must be modernized’: Aviation experts sound alarm on air traffic safety on Capitol Hill
Following a midair collision that killed 67 people near D.C., aviation officials are raising concerns to Congress about not only the busy airspace around Reagan National Airport, but the state of the nation’s aviation system.
At a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, members of Congress heard testimony from several aviation experts, who said progress to upgrade the air traffic control system is moving painfully slow.
“Our nation’s air traffic control system is outdated, and it must be modernized for the benefit and safety of all users of the National Airspace System,” Committee Chairman, Missouri Rep. Sam Graves said. “While this issue has been thrust back into the spotlight following a string of tragic accidents, this is not a new debate.”
Others who testified cited concerns going back at least 30 years that the air traffic controller system needed to be modernized.
“We are not the gold standard of aviation in the world anymore. We are not even on the podium,” said Paul Rinaldi, a retired controller at Dulles International Airport and the former president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
“Controllers and technicians are working with the best 1980s and 1990s technology, from floppy disks to paper strips, out-of-service ground radar systems and broken communications systems.”
A 2024 General Accounting Office study cited what was called “an urgent need” to upgrade the system and it said 51 of the FAA’s 138 ATC systems were “unsustainable” and another 54 were “potentially unsustainable.”
“With a finite capital budget and unstable funding, the agency is forced into the impossible predicament of having to dedicate vast amounts of money on simply sustaining old and outdated systems, leaving little left over for capital improvement projects,” said aviation subcommittee Chairman Rep. Troy Nehls, of Texas.
“Furthermore, it is admittedly a technical challenge to modernize a robust system, with little to no interruption, that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and transports almost 3 million passengers daily.”
Staffing shortages
Another challenge is hiring more controllers. It is estimated the air traffic control system needs at least 3,000 controllers to keep up with the retirements and bring the system up to full capacity of 14,000 controllers.
During a recent interview on FOX, Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy suggested allowing controllers who are past the mandatory retirement age of 56 to stay on the job longer, offering lucrative incentives including bonuses and higher salaries to those who take the deal.
Elon Musk, who is leading efforts at the “Department of Government Efficiency,” suggested in a social media post that already retired controllers could come back to their old jobs.
But many aviation professionals have dismissed that idea, citing issues with retraining the controllers and possible performance issues because they say evidence shows a controllers effectiveness diminishes with age.
Changes at Reagan National following plane crash
Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board is finalizing its preliminary report on the status of the investigation into the collision on Jan. 29. That document is expected to be released within the next few weeks. A final report, along with conclusions to improve aviation safety, won’t be ready for at least a year.
In the aftermath of the collision, the Federal Aviation Administration has temporarily imposed new flight restrictions for helicopters around Reagan National.
The NTSB said its investigation showed the helicopter was flying higher than the 200-foot ceiling mandated in the helicopter corridor and that may have caused the collision.
Another change at the airport was reported in a Wall Street Journal exclusive: FAA officials are now requiring a higher level of approval within the aviation agency before staffing levels can be reduced. The tower’s facility manager, not just a supervisor, must sign off on the reduction.
On the night of the collision near Reagan National, an FAA supervisor approved allowing one controller to leave early. That decision meant only one controller was handling both inbound and outbound aircraft operations, as well as managing the helicopter corridors near the airport.
According to the Wall Street Journal, officials also want a specific controller managing helicopter traffic in the busy, complex area where military, first-responder and private helicopters are routinely sharing airspace with passenger jets.