The Trump administration on Thursday proposed a multibillion-dollar overhaul of a U.S. air traffic control system that it said still relies on floppy disks and replacement parts found on eBay and has come under renewed scrutiny in the wake of recent deadly plane crashes and technical failures.
The plan calls for six new air traffic control centers, along with an array of technology and communications upgrades at all of the nation’s air traffic facilities over the next three or four years, said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“We use radar from the 1970s,” said Duffy, who compared the proposal with upgrading from a flip phone to a smartphone. “This technology is 50 years old that our controllers use to scan the skies and keep airplanes separated from one another.”
How much it will all cost wasn’t immediately revealed. Duffy said he’ll work with Congress on the details.
“It’s going to be billions, lots of billions,” he said.
The plan has an aggressive timeline, calling on everything to be finished by 2028 — although Duffy said it may take another year.
Demands to fix the aging system that handles more than 45,000 daily flights have increased since the midair collision in January…