NATCA SUPPORTS SECRETARY SEAN DUFFY’S PLAN TO MODERNIZE THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM
WASHINGTON – Today, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced the details about his visionary plan to modernize our nation’s air traffic control system. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) strongly supports this comprehensive effort to fund and prioritize the replacement and repair of air traffic control facilities and modernize outdated technology.
“NATCA thanks Sec. Duffy for taking a proactive approach to addressing air traffic control modernization. NATCA fully supports this effort,” said NATCA President Nick Daniels. “NATCA has advocated for the modernization of air traffic control systems and infrastructure for decades, and it is past time that it is addressed.
“NATCA is ready to continue working with Sec. Duffy, the Department of Transportation, and the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure that all modernization efforts include involvement from the National Airspace System’s most important resource – the hardworking air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals who keep our skies safe, day in and day out. Their expertise will help guarantee that the state-of-the-art systems Sec. Duffy envisions work optimally,” Daniels said.
NATCA also thanks U.S. House of Representatives Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves for his leadership in proposing the inclusion of an air traffic control modernization provision in the budget reconciliation package, which will significantly improve the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System for the flying public, users of the system, and the air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals who operate the system 24 hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year. This $12.5 billion infusion will serve as a significant downpayment to modernize the system.
NATCA also thanks the Administration for submitting a budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2026 that includes increases for both air traffic controller hiring and training and includes the highest ever budget request for facilities and equipmentto ensure that the FAA can meet its facilities and systems maintenance requirements while it develops, tests, and implements the new air traffic control system.
MORE INFORMATION:
Galen Munroe, Deputy Director of Public Affairs; 202-220-9802, [email protected].
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) is a labor union and aviation safety organization in the United States that represents nearly 20,000 highly skilled air traffic controllers, engineers, and other aviation safety-related professionals. NATCA was certified in 1987 by the Federal Labor Relations Authority to be the exclusive bargaining representative for air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Today, NATCA is one of the strongest labor unions in the federal sector and represents a range of aviation safety professionals in 15 FAA bargaining units, five Department of Defense air traffic facilities, and 123 federal contract towers. These air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals make vital contributions to the U.S. economy and make modern life possible by coordinating the safe, orderly, and expeditious movement of one billion aviation passengers and millions of tons of freight within the National Airspace System each year. NATCA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
