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Inbound senate Commerce chair states FAA must improve air traffic systems

The inbound chair of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee stated on Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration need to do something about it to modernize air traffic control systems.

Senator Ted Cruz said at a hearing on air traffic concerns that he prepares to focus greatly on the status of U.S. airspace when he takes control of next year.

The status quo of how the FAA modernizes our ATC is inappropriate, Cruz said. We are stuck to innovation that is obsoleted nearly as quickly as it is introduced into the airspace.

Cruz stated he prepares to look at the status of the airspace and what changes might be required to improve its performance and dependability.

A computer blackout to a key pilot signaling system in January 2023 interfered with 11,000 flights and required a halt to all U.S. traveler airlines' leaving traffic for almost two hours, the initially such action since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The Government Responsibility Workplace in September said the FAA should take immediate action to resolve aging air traffic control systems

GAO stated the FAA determined that 51 of its 138 systems. are unsustainable, pointing out 17 of those unsustainable systems as specifically concerning and another 54 were potentially unsustainable. Nevertheless, the FAA does not prepare to finish modernization projects for lots of systems for a minimum of a years.

A union representing air traffic controllers stated on Thursday that lots of facilities are plagued by dripping roofing systems, flooding basements that contain electronic systems, broken-down elevators and a/c systems, and chronically backed-up bathroom toilets.

The White House in March

proposed investing $8 billion

over the next 5 years - starting with $1 billion in 2025 - to change or modernize more than 20 aging air traffic control centers and 377 important radar systems.

The FAA is also struggling with a persistent shortage of air traffic controllers - and remains about 3,000 controllers behind staffing targets - and a series of near-miss occurrences have actually raised severe security questions. At numerous facilities, controllers work compulsory overtime and six-day work weeks to cover scarcities.

The FAA said in June that

it was extending cuts to minimum flight

requirements at busy New york city City-area airports through October 2025, saying the number of controllers handling traffic in New york city is inadequate for normal traffic levels.

(source: Reuters)