A sweeping initiative to overhaul America’s aging air traffic control system is gaining traction, as key industry leaders signal strong support for the Trump administration’s modernization efforts.
At a Breitbart News policy event in Washington, DC, on Friday, Leidos CEO Tom Bell emphasized that the combined leadership of President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is uniquely positioned to take on what he called a massive and long-acknowledged but long-avoided challenge in aviation infrastructure.
Speaking with Breitbart News Economics Editor John Carney, Bell said the challenge of modernizing America’s air traffic control system has long been recognized but seldom addressed due to its complexity and scale. “It’s not that other people haven’t acknowledged this problem,” Bell remarked. “It’s just that it’s a big, hairy, audacious problem, and it takes a lot of money and a lot of conviction and the courage to tackle it. You’ve got in this president, and you’ve got in the Secretary of Transportation, people who are not afraid of that and willing to lean into it.”
Leidos CEO Tom Bell speaks with Breitbart News Economics Editor John Carney during a Breitbart News policy event in Washington, DC, on Friday, November 7, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News)
Bell highlighted the use of the $12.5 billion allocated in the “one big, beautiful bill,” noting that Leidos is already working to modernize existing systems with those funds. “So, we’re working today with that twelve and a half billion dollars that Sean talked about in the one big, beautiful bill to already modernize the systems that are existing,” Bell stated.
He added that the upgrades aim to make systems “better, more secure and easier for the operator to use,” with a focus on advancing toward a Common Application Program that would, as he put it, “ultimately bring the 21st Century air traffic control system into American air traffic.”
WATCH — Sean Duffy: Big Beautiful Bill Is Funding Upgrades to “Old,” “Atrocious” Air Traffic Control System:
Earlier in the day, in a discussion with Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the current air traffic control system as “atrocious,” citing obsolete infrastructure including copper-based telecom that the department is now working to replace with fiber and digital technology.
He pointed to a telecom outage at Newark airport that caused a 30-second reboot and resulted in a minute and a half without radar scopes, highlighting the vulnerability of the system. Duffy explained the solution involves transitioning from copper to fiber, analog to digital, and implementing new software and automation to modernize operations.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy during a discussion with Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle on Friday, November 7, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News)
According to the Transportation Secretary, while $12.5 billion has been appropriated and is being used to begin modernization efforts, the Department of Transportation estimates a total of $31.5 billion will be necessary to fully realize the upgrade goals.
These include replacing over 600 outdated radars, deploying 25,000 new radios and 475 voice switches, expanding the Surface Awareness Initiative to 200 airports, and building six new air traffic control centers — the first such construction since the 1960s. Additionally, weather monitoring in remote areas like Alaska will be improved with 174 new stations.
WATCH: Breitbart News Policy Event with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Leidos CEO Tom Bell:
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