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Posted on 11/14/2026 6:26:56 AM PST by Red Badger
The Federal Aviation Administration has officially lifted the nationwide ground stop after flights were halted for roughly four hours, the agency announced Friday evening.
[snip]
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called on Congress to provide the Trump administration with $50 billion to “fix” the nation’s air traffic control system.
“It's the old hardware that went down. And I think the question for the American people is, do you want your Congress to fund this?” Duffy said after the FAA lifted a nationwide ground stop on air travel.
He continued, “We had a down payment — President Trump asked for it in the One Big Beautiful Bill — of $12.5 billion. That portion of the bill will be done by the time President Trump leaves office … that's a partial funding and I think America demands that the Congress give the rest of the resources to finish.”
Duffy said he wants Congress to approve $50 billion in funding for a “state-of-the-art” air traffic control system.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin chimed in: “This is what happens when Congress kicks the can down the road.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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What happened here? Did the price of this improvement (which is most likely needed) suddenly double? What will be the final price if this bill finally & actually gets approved?
What happened here? Did the price of this improvement (which is most likely needed) suddenly double? What will be the final price if this bill finally & actually gets approved?
What happened here? Did the price of this improvement (which is most likely needed) suddenly double? What will be the final price if this bill finally & actually gets approved?
If you wanted to dream up a feel-good excuse that would put the public at ease, this would be it.
Don't blame buggy software.
Don't blame the latest AI tools.
Just blame a few rusty bits of hardware. Easily found. Easily swapped out. Nothing to worry about. We just need $50B to make those fixes a bit more sweeping.
We have a word in the electronics industry for this.
KLUGE.
A kluge (pronounced klooj or kluhj) is a makeshift, clumsy, or inelegant solution to a problem that rapidly achieves a functional result using available resources.
Our FAA systems are kluge of very old, old moderately old and a smattering of new technology.
Some places still have tube type transmitters, for ILS systems. Not a really bad thing, since the tube systems actually have a better signal and longevity, but tubes are getting harder to find and more expensive.
Some places still use MS-DOS based computers and floppy discs to control their tower systems.
The last video matrix our company sold the FAA was installed at the Houston airport in around 2003 and it was the size of a side-by-side refrigerator. And it was already obsolete. It had the best of 1970’s technology in it. A comparable system using today’s technology would be the size of microwave oven.
All of these systems have been cobbled together over the last 60 years and the strain has become painfully obvious.
We are just lucky that no one has died, as far as I know, as a result of old technology well past its “Replace by Date”................
They have funds ready to be spent from the federal BEAD program. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Just need the go ahead on where to spend the money.
Like ancient archaeological sites in the Middle East, the new technology will be built upon the ruins of the old technology and then you just have another layer to excavate............
“Just blame a few rusty bits of hardware. Easily found. Easily swapped out. “
I used to do disaster tests for different government entities. We actually had to keep hardware on the floor that no one had used for 20 years and it was hard to find techs to keep it working. We’re talking reel-to-reel tape machines and other things.
It would be interesting to know what actually happened, but that will never be. We’ll get a bunch of gobbledygook for a few days, then our collective attention will be directed somewhere else. (Also, one prediction I’ve got will be a call for a new global alliance to manage and ensure the safety of all air travel.)
We are immersed today in evil forces. What happened was a demonstration of their ability to disrupt and destabilize our reality. Disorienting the masses is a very effective way to keep them under control. Instead of stable prosperity and peace, we are provided with Sportsball and Instant Gratification as distractions. It was interesting/disturbing, yesterday, to hear people express concern over how the attack on our airports might affect the weekend’s football games. That’s apparently where we are as a society...
The most obscene example was when Katrina struck New Orleans therefore the federal government had to pay to replace the Superdome. Fortunately for our wallets, those who made that demand were shamed for trying to jump to the head of the cash line while bodies were still floating in the streets.
I thought all they needed was new floppy diskette drives.
I don't believe their "explanation".
If there was a cyber attack, why didn’t it work on the new stuff?
Because the new stuff worked fine.
From 2025...
https://fortune.com/2025/05/12/faa-spare-parts-ebay-transportation-secretary-sean-duffy/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/faa-ebay-3d-printers-replace-air-traffic-controller-parts/
From September of this year...
https://www.the-independent.com/travel/news-and-advice/faa-air-traffic-control-outages-b3055019.html
WTH is Congress continuing to put lives at risk by REFUSING to write the freaking check?!
We already did that,it’s called Next Gen:
ADS-B is part of it, which totally changed how a/c are tracked and monitored. All remote receivers and RCAG are supposed to have redundant radio hardware, back up power, and redundant backhaul links. I’d start with an audit of what actually is in place and if it falls short, start firing people who are in charge and hire someone like Musk who knows how to get stuff done to fix it.
Oh God. All you have to do is exercise some restraint, click the POST button just one (1) time, place your hands on your lap, hold them tight and wait. It will happen. I promise.
Air Traffic Control: FAA Actions Are Urgently Needed to Modernize Aging Systems
The answer for me is to let the general & commercial flight sector form an organization which takes over the air traffic control system, which they fund, while the government can do its own thing for National Defense purposes. The private sector would create and manage a more modern, efficient, and robust system. It would also have real accountability since the private sector actually cares about costs, competence, and results. The current system is archaic, but acquiring the right equipment to modernize has to pass through a labyrinth of government procurement, regulations, etc. to say nothing of the political chicanery involved in everything the public sector does.
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