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⛓️‍💥 What’s broken

Experts say America’s air travel system is buckling under the weight of two massive problems: outdated technology and a shortage of qualified air traffic controllers.

A SYSTEM FROZEN IN TIME: As a former chief operating officer of the FAA told NPR recently, our air traffic control system utilizes “the very best technology of the 1980s.”

• Imagine driving a car from the early ’80s—or trying to text on a rotary phone. That’s the kind of technology keeping millions of passengers safe every day.

Take the FAA’s 618 radar systems: many are so old that when they break down, technicians have to buy parts on eBay because they’re no longer manufactured.

Some systems still run on copper wires and floppy disks.

Things are so bad that last fall, a Government Accountability Office report urged the FAA to take “urgent action.”

• It found that 51 of the FAA’s 138 air traffic control systems were “unsustainable.” (The GAO didn’t say which airports those were.)

A LACK OF CONTROLLERS: It gets worse. The country is also facing a severe shortfall of certified air traffic controllers—a high-stress, high-stakes job made even less attractive by the federal government’s instability and neglect.

• To maintain safety, the FAA needs at least 14,200 fully certified controllers. But according to the union, there are only 10,800.

Why the shortfall? It’s already a demanding career, but working with outdated tech and under the constant threat of cuts makes it worse.

TRUMP MADE IT WORSE: Then came Trump.

• Just days after 67 people died in a midair collision near Washington, D.C., Trump and Elon Musk laid off 400 FAA staffers.

The original plan included air traffic controllers, though that part was quickly reversed. Still, the cuts hit mechanics and other critical aviation support personnel.

• Unions sued, and in March, a federal judge ruled at least some of the firings were unlawful, since they weren’t based on individual performance. 132 workers were reinstated with back pay.

Then, on Friday night, another federal judge in California put a temporary freeze on any additional mass firings, blocking Trump’s broader downsizing efforts—for now.

But the damage was done: Trump’s war on public workers has made federal service feel like a dead-end job, and that affects every agency, including the FAA.

• When you’re constantly at risk of being laid off, a job as difficult and stressful as air traffic control becomes an even harder sell.

BIG PICTURE: None of these problems are unsolvable. But they’ll take serious investment, long-term planning, and the political will to protect public institutions instead of gutting them.

📖 How we got here

Before we talk about how to fix the system, we have to understand how it broke. And that story can be summed up in one word: Reagan.

FLASHBACK: On August 3, 1981, more than 13,000 air traffic controllers walked off the job demanding a shorter work week, better pay, and modernized equipment.

• Reagan responded by declaring the strike illegal and ordered striking workers back to their jobs within 48 hours.

When most refused, Regan fired 11,000 qualified and experienced air traffic controllers and banned them for life from working for the government (that ban was later lifted by Bill Clinton).

Almost overnight, the industry lost a generation of institutional knowledge.

• Union leaders today say the industry has never recovered.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: Reagan didn’t just crush the union—he slashed the FAA’s budget, all in the name of “small government” (except when it came to military spending, of course).

• That anti-government ideology meant decades of underinvestment in the systems designed to keep planes—and people—safe.

Ever since, the FAA’s efforts to modernize have been a story of good ideas killed by bad politics.

THE NEXT GEN: In the early 2000s, the FAA launched a major overhaul called NextGen, meant to move the system from radar-based to satellite-based navigation.

• But that plan has been plagued by funding gaps, shutdowns, and budget cuts. Projects have stalled. Technology has aged out before even being deployed.

Despite billions spent, much of the upgrade remains unfinished.

MEANWHILE: While the FAA has struggled to modernize, the wealthiest Americans have gotten a massive break: the top federal income tax rate has fallen from 70% at the start of Reagan’s presidency to just 37% today.

• Republican tax cuts for the rich haven’t just widened inequality — they’ve starved critical infrastructure of the funding it desperately needs.

Air traffic control isn’t broken by accident. It’s broken by design.

🔧 How we can fix it

There’s no quick fix for America’s broken air traffic system—but most experts agree on where to start. And for once, both labor and industry are backing the same proposal.

DUFFY’S PLAN: In response to the mounting number of recent incidents, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a plan this week to overhaul the FAA’s outdated technological infrastructure.

That plan includes:

• Replacing those outdated radar systems

• Installing 4,600 high-speed fiber optic lines to replace aging copper wiring

• Building 15 new towers and 6 new control centers

• Updating 25,000 radios, some more than 30 years old

• Expanding surface tracking systems to 200 more airports—making taxiing and ground operations safer

The plan has drawn praise from both aviation unions and industry groups. Even frequent FAA critics have called Duffy’s plan a “solid down payment” on safety.

BUT BUT BUT: No one knows if Congress will actually deliver the full funding needed.

The $12.5 billion proposal currently on the table won’t even cover all the upgrades, and 200 airports will still be left without modern ground radar.

• The budget process is currently in disarray, with Trump and the billionaire class pushing huge tax cuts for themselves at the expense of critical government services.

MORE THAN EQUIPMENT: And, as reported above, hardware isn’t the only problem. Hiring, training, and retaining more certified air traffic controllers is just as urgent.

• Duffy has also announced a plan to hire 2,000 more air traffic controllers this year, by increasing starting salary and reducing the amount of time it takes to get certification.

This builds on the hiring surge started by Biden’s transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg.

• Pete set aggressive goals, and in 2024, the FAA hired over 1,800 controllers, marking the largest hiring effort in a decade.

Still, some experts say that because it takes a long time to really get up to speed on a job as difficult as air traffic control—especially at major airports—it could take eight years to close the gap.

BOTTOM LINE: Duffy’s plan is a critical next step—but Congress will need to do their job and fund it.

Modern air travel runs on people and technology. Right now, both are running on fumes.

🧨 What Republicans really want

If you’ve been wondering why Republicans keep gutting FAA funding while claiming to care about safety—here’s the truth: their ultimate goal is to privatize the air traffic control system.

CORPORATE TAKEOVER: Republicans, with support from think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and lobbyists for the private aviation industry, have spent years pushing to take the FAA’s air traffic control responsibilities out of public hands and hand them over to a private, “nonprofit” board dominated by airline and business interests.

Their claim—as always—that privatization would “modernize” the system and “reduce bureaucracy.” In reality it’s a massive handout to big business:

• It would allow major airlines and private jet companies to write the rules of the skies.

• It would weaken government oversight and open the door to profit-driven cost cutting on critical safety infrastructure.

• It would hand billions of dollars over to private contractors with little to no government oversight.

• And it would make it even harder for the flying public—especially smaller airports and rural communities—to get fair access to airspace.

THE STRATEGY: It’s the same old GOP playbook—underfund a public agency until it struggles, then claim it’s broken—and use that as justification to privatize it.

• That’s what Reagan did to public housing. What Trump is trying to do to the Postal Service. And now what the right is trying to do with air traffic control.

It’s what Trump tried to do before. In 2017, Trump announced a plan to privatize air traffic control. Thankfully, that plan was met with bipartisan opposition and failed—but the idea never went away.

Today’s budget cuts, hiring freezes, and Trump-led layoffs are all part of the same long game: turn public safety into private profit.

👀 Keeping yourself safe

The good news is that flying in the U.S. is still statistically safe—but the margin for error is shrinking, and passengers shouldn’t have to rely on luck.

If you’re flying anytime soon, here are a few steps to protect yourself—and the future of air travel.

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