After a series of high-profile incidents at U.S. airports, the federal government is moving quickly to modernize the nation’s aging air traffic control system. The price tag is $12.5 billion, and artificial intelligence is expected to play an important role.
Speaking to CBS News, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said: “AI is a tool, but we are not replacing humans in how we manage airspace. »
When asked if AI would replace air traffic controllers, he replied: “Hell, no, that’s not going to happen. »
Air traffic control is one of the most demanding jobs in the world, and the idea of handing this responsibility over to a machine is not something most people are comfortable with. Duffy’s position is that AI should improve controllers’ jobs, not replace them.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will be used to merge airline flight schedules with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data to detect potential congestion issues well before they occur.
Rather than scrambling to deal with delays on the day, the software would flag conflicts weeks in advance and suggest small adjustments, shifting a departure by five or 10 minutes, which should help prevent bottlenecks from forming.
Duffy said, “This software will say, ‘We can see this in 45 days. Let’s move some of these flights a little later, or five, seven, ten minutes earlier, and we can fix the problem.’ And that way you’re not delayed.”
Last year, the U.S. Congress approved $12.5 billion to improve air traffic control under the Big Beautiful Bill.
The Transportation Department says it has already replaced nearly half of all copper wiring in the system, upgraded about 270 radio sites, installed new surface detection technology at 54 airports to help controllers track planes on the ground and moved 17 towers from paper flight strips to electronic systems.
But the AI software itself has not yet been funded. Estimates place its cost between $6 billion and $10 billion, meaning Congress will need to act again before this part of the plan can move forward.
Duffy directly acknowledged the human element, saying: “We have human beings who navigate, manage the airspace, and as human beings we can make mistakes. That’s why I want to give additional tools to support air traffic controllers.”
