US transportation secretary seeks $30bn more for air traffic control overhaul

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asked Congress on Monday for an extra $30 billion for air traffic control and airport upgrades. Without the money, he said, the modernisation programme his department began last year cannot reach its full potential.

At a press conference at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Duffy said the department needed more funding "to finish what we started." He was joined by FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, representatives of ALPA, NATCA and Airlines for America, and Senator Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican. Schmitt introduced the Modern Skies Act the same day to authorise the money.

Congress approved $12.5 billion for the programme, known as BNATCS, last year through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Department of Transportation called that amount a down payment on a total outlay of about $31.5 billion at the time, leaving $19 billion to be appropriated. The federal government now puts the additional requirement at $30 billion. That would bring the projected total to $42.5 billion, more than $10 billion above the earlier estimate.

The request would direct $10 billion to new air traffic control architecture and software, $10 billion to infrastructure including towers, runways and taxiways, and $10 billion to improvements at mid-sized airports. Duffy said those airports often struggle.

Duffy had previewed the request in a speech to the Aero Club of Washington the previous week before appealing directly to Congress.