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Officials from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), and the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO) convened at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh on Tuesday to call for an additional $20 billion to complete the Trump’s administration’s ongoing air traffic control (ATC) system overhaul.
“DOT and FAA leadership have been clear that finishing this job, replacing hundreds of aging ATC facilities, deploying modern surveillance automation for controllers, and building the traffic management tools our system needs will take an additional $20 billion,” ALPA President Jason Ambrosi said at a press conference at the airshow. “Partial funding isn’t a shortcut. It leaves controllers, our crews on the ground, working with one foot in the old system and one in the new. And that’s a dangerous place to leave the people we depend on most.”
Spurred on by high-profile ATC-related incidents, including the midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA) and repeated outages at Newark Liberty International Airport (KEWR), lawmakers included $12.5 billion for upgrades in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law last summer. The funding has already been used to replace copper wiring with fiber-optic cables and convert aging analog voice switches and radios to digital systems.
But the Department of Transportation estimates that it will take a total of around $32 billion to fully rebuild the nation’s ATC system. This was the original plan formulated by the Trump administration, and involves completely rebuilding some ATC families, erecting new towers, and launching a brand new automation platform.
Despite the urging of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, it is not clear if Congress will attempt to appropriate the additional $20 billion in the near future. Midterm elections in November could also reshuffle priorities in the House and Senate.
Ambrosi was joined Tuesday by NATCA President Nick Daniels and ATO Chief Operating Officer Frank McIntosh. Both praised the work completed so far under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act but echoed the ALPA president’s call for additional support.
Daniels said deferred work and piecemeal “Band-Aid” solutions in the past have created a situation where the “full $32 billion investment” is needed.
He also emphasized that the funding will support the people of the FAA, not just new equipment.
“The top five highest amounts of aircraft run in a single day have been in 2026, when we’re doing it with 75 percent of an essential workforce,” he said. “We’re doing it on six-day workweeks. We’re doing it on 10 hours a day. We’re doing it on the backs of the air traffic controllers that are running the system, and they’re proud to do it.”
Daniels also said NATCA will continue to focus on controllers’ mental health.
“Thousands of decisions and never being able to be wrong in a single session; not even talking about a full day,” he said. “Our mental health issues are real for aviation. Whether you’re a pilot, whether you’re an air traffic controller. And that’s why we continue to work with members of Congress. We continue to work with the entire Modern Skies Coalition for not only the changes again to the system, but changes in the archaic medical system.”
McIntosh, himself a former controller, highlighted some of the achievements of the past year. As of this month, 59 percent of the ATC system’s copper wires have been replaced with fiber, 5G, wireless, and other technologies. Over 346 radio sites have been successfully converted from analog to digital. Seven new radar systems have been deployed, and the agency is on track to boost that figure to 612.
But the money funding those advancements-the OBBBA’s $12.5 billion-should still be thought of as a down payment, he added.
“This is now catching us up to where we’ve always needed to be,” he said. “The next chapter of $18 billion is common automation platforms, and taking the next leaps in technology to ensure the FAA remains the global leader.”
