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There’s Huge News for Our Air Traffic Control System
PJ Media ^ | March 19, 2025 | Matt Margolis

Posted on 03/19/2025 10:30:13 AM PDT by george76

The Trump administration is finally tackling an issue that has plagued the nation's air traffic control system for decades. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy revealed on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday morning that a "brand new state-of-the-art system" is on the way to replace an infrastructure that has remained largely unchanged for 25 to 30 years.

An official announcement is coming in the next few days, but Duffy explained what’s going to happen and why.

"We use copper wires, floppy disks — I mean, it's atrocious, the system we use," Duffy stated. While he reassured the public that the current system is safe, he acknowledged that "we're seeing the cracks of age."

The overhaul will modernize outdated technology, transitioning from "copper lines to fiber lines" and introducing "brand new radar, brand new terminals for air traffic controllers.”

The improvements won’t stop there.

We gonna have sensors on runways so they don't have to stand in the tower and look out with binoculars

...

FAA’s obsession with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives has come at the cost of hiring qualified personnel—possibly playing a role in the tragic midair collision at Reagan National Airport in January. These DEI-driven policies began under the Obama administration. President Trump rolled them back during his first term, but Biden reinstated them, once again prioritizing diversity over competence.

...

The controllers say the push for diversity quotas not only weakened hiring standards but also created a staffing shortage, leaving the agency with a less capable workforce.

(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: airtraffic; aviation; duffy; flying; seanduffy; transportation; travel
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1 posted on 03/19/2025 10:30:13 AM PDT by george76
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To: george76

Great news! It’s about time!


2 posted on 03/19/2025 10:32:46 AM PDT by yldstrk (Nothing like the truth)
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To: yldstrk

New system better be EMP proof.

Use optical and fiber would be a start.


3 posted on 03/19/2025 10:35:40 AM PDT by George from New England (escaped CT back in 2006)
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To: george76

I doubt that old current system offers any kind of actual hardening from any emp strikes either.

First thought I had, but I think its still tied into everything else electronic which would go down anyway.


4 posted on 03/19/2025 10:35:49 AM PDT by Bayard
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To: George from New England

If you read the article, the new system is using fiber.


5 posted on 03/19/2025 10:37:41 AM PDT by yldstrk (Nothing like the truth)
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To: george76

Imagine obozo, who could’t even get a website working try to do this..


6 posted on 03/19/2025 10:42:00 AM PDT by Track9 (Make haste slowly. )
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To: george76

The current system has been endangering our skies and ground now for most of those 30-40 years.

I’m curious how much funding Congress has approved for these upgrades, since nearly all FAA accounts are “restricted”,


7 posted on 03/19/2025 10:47:47 AM PDT by Bob Wills is still the king (Just a Texas Playboy at heart!)
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To: george76

“We gonna have sensors on runways”

In addition, how about cameras up and down the runways and taxiways and using AI for advanced video fusion?


8 posted on 03/19/2025 10:51:56 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (Democrats who say ‘no one is above the law’ won’t mind going to prison for the money they stole)
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To: george76; 04-Bravo; 1FASTGLOCK45; 1stFreedom; 2ndDivisionVet; 2sheds; 60Gunner; 6AL-4V; ...

AVIATION PING!....................


9 posted on 03/19/2025 10:55:54 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: george76

I heard they plugged in the new system, and immediately found 400,000 additional ballots from dem precincts.


10 posted on 03/19/2025 11:05:34 AM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: George from New England
I would hope so. I watched an excellent documentary LINK: Grid Down-Power Up! that is narrated by Dennis Quaid, who I am a huge fan of. Big conservative guy, I believe.

It is about EMP, not just a hostile attack, but a solar event, or otherwise. It is a bit hair-raising to watch, but on the good side, the documentary is very positive and says we could harden ourselves for little money, relatively speaking. It was very hopeful.

11 posted on 03/19/2025 11:11:44 AM PDT by rlmorel ("A people that elect corrupt politicians are not victims...but accomplices." George Orwell)
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To: yldstrk

yeah but not ground to plane


12 posted on 03/19/2025 11:21:17 AM PDT by al baby (I know sarcasm )
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To: george76

Rather than runway sensors - and taxiways, and parking slots, and....

https://www.era.aero/en/air-traffic-management/mss-5

Accuracy is single-digit feet. We already have some at a few airports. Somebody might want to take a look, see how they’re doing.


13 posted on 03/19/2025 11:26:01 AM PDT by dagunk (-- Unknown)
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To: george76

IIRC, bids went out in the 80’s to upgrade systems but quickly ended up a total failure.


14 posted on 03/19/2025 11:33:27 AM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within ? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉! 🇮🇱👍!)
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To: george76

The Y2K problem forced the FAA to finally get off of 1970s era mainframes. Extreme aversion to incremental risk can lead to having to accept much larger ones down the road.


15 posted on 03/19/2025 11:51:40 AM PDT by Dilbert56
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To: george76

Wait a minute..we already got that!

https://www.faa.gov/nextgen

That’s what NextGen was supposed to do. I know for sure that all the ADS-B ground stations are in place and most a/c are required to have ADS-B transponders - that’s how you’re able to see real-time a/c locations on PlaneSpotter, FlightRadar24, and ADSB-Exchange.

If he’s talking about Future NAS and TBO, OK, but those aren’t new ideas, maybe just not deployed yet.

But we’ve seen this movie before.


16 posted on 03/19/2025 11:53:12 AM PDT by bigbob (Yes. We ARE going back!)
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To: george76

The billions of dollars we’ve throw away on WOKE BS and we’re using floppies in our Air Traffic Control systems?

Then DEI?

Elon needs to cut fast and deep. The country’s been run by corrupt evil democrat bureaucrats long enough.


17 posted on 03/19/2025 11:57:27 AM PDT by GOPJ (New democrat talking point/lie: what about the honest public servant who's just doing his job?)
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To: Bayard

The old system would be OK in an EMP strike...

The guys at the end of the runways and those in the control towers who wave those kerosene lanterns to signal all aircraft are impervious to an EMP...


18 posted on 03/19/2025 12:14:08 PM PDT by SuperLuminal (Where is rabble-rising Sam Adams now that we need him? Is his name Trump, now?)
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To: george76

Tackling an issue that has plagued the nation’s air traffic control system for decades.

Elon saved the money from waste to do it?.


19 posted on 03/19/2025 1:09:16 PM PDT by Vaduz
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To: rlmorel

Bkm thanks.


20 posted on 03/19/2025 2:46:18 PM PDT by Pocketdoor
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