FAA pushes back on watchdog report questioning ATC modernization program

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Tuesday he wanted to correct the record on a Government Accountability Office report that raised concerns about the agency's air traffic control modernization program. Published Monday, the report said the FAA lacks a lifecycle cost estimate and a master schedule for its Brand New ATC System program.

The program is planned in two phases. It is intended to replace decades-old infrastructure and add automated capabilities meant to improve safety and efficiency in the National Airspace System. The GAO said that without a lifecycle cost estimate or master schedule, the effort could follow the path of the earlier NextGen initiative, which the watchdog found delivered 16 percent of its promised benefits after 20 years and 36 billion dollars of spending. A summary of the report warned that if the risks are realized, the FAA could be left relying on outdated systems prone to failure, leading to more flight delays and safety incidents.

Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee's transportation, housing and urban development subcommittee, Bedford said the FAA had reviewed the report and had a few issues it does not concur with. He said the agency does have lifecycle cost estimates for the entire project and a highly integrated master work schedule, adding that the GAO may need to return for another review.

Bedford also said the FAA expects to spend more than the 12.5 billion dollars Congress allocated for the program in 2025. The GAO noted that the FAA has attempted to modernize its air traffic control system since the 1980s, and that in 2024 it deemed more than 75 percent of the agency's 138 air traffic control systems to be partially or fully unsustainable.