US News
15 July 2026
The U.S. aviation sector urged Congress on Wednesday to provide $20 billion to complete a massive effort to modernize America's aging air traffic control system and reduce systemic flight disruptions.
An aviation coalition including airlines, airplane manufacturers, airports, unions and others said the $20 billion is needed to replace or upgrade hundreds of aging air traffic control facilities, deploy state-of-the-art technologies for controllers and to develop advanced airspace traffic management tools to improve safety and reduce delays.
Last year, Congress awarded $12.5 billion for the project to replace outdated technology and boost understaffed air traffic control towers. Much of the new proposed spending is to develop new software that could help make air travel much more efficient...
