(NewsNation) — Top officials with the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration testified Wednesday on Capitol Hill, where they were grilled over a series of issues at some of the nation’s busiest airports.
The day featured a hearing in the Senate with FAA leadership and another in the House with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The discussions come amid mounting concerns for the aviation industry, notably Newark Liberty International Airport, which has experienced three ground stops in the past two weeks.
“Our nation’s air traffic control system is showing signs of age,” Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Chairman Steve Womack said. “The telecommunications issues that have been plaguing Newark and routinely interrupting operations over the past month are unacceptable and the fact that they were allowed to get to this point over the past several years is beyond frustrating.”
Duffy, who has proposed a plan to overhaul the nation’s aging air traffic control infrastructure, testified on his department’s fiscal 2026 budget request.
He said the department is requesting $26.7 billion in for fiscal year 2026, which would include a $1.2 billion increase for air traffic modernization and operations, $596 million to ramp up our port and shipyard infrastructure, a $400 million boost for freight rail safety, and $770 million for multimodal freight expansion.
Ranking Member James Clyburn said the plan “is a great start,” but ignores “the reality of cuts to FAA staff, fair competition and overall costs, and most importantly, how we pay for it.”
“Americans are afraid of flying, controllers are walking off their jobs and aviation businesses are hurting,” Clyburn said. “This plan seems to ignore the realities of the FAA losing more than two thousand employees this year and assumes project timelines not yet defined by costs, access to materials, or feasibility.”
Duffy and the FAA are also set to meet with airline executives to discuss the possibility of cutting flights at Newark in an effort to keep air traffic moving smoothly across the country during the busy summer travel season.
That plan is likely to come up in Wednesday’s Senate hearing, at which FAA officials will provide updates on plans to enhance aviation safety, modernize aging systems and address air traffic control staffing shortages.
Sean Duffy points to airspace, aging systems concerns
In the House, Duffy is facing scrutiny over the issues at Newark‘s airport, where recent problems have included air traffic control staff losing contact with planes, staffing shortages and runway construction. These issues have led to significant delays, cancellations and safety concerns.
Similar problems emerged this week at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest in the country. Equipment failures triggered a ground stop and caused hundreds of flight delays.
Duffy has expressed concern similar issues could begin to surface at other airports as well.
“What you see at Newark, we’re gonna have to fix. We’re gonna move fast, we’re gonna do it right. My concern is that we could see other situations like this around the country, because the system is old,” Duffy said at a news conference Monday.
“We are fighting to make sure that we work with congress, get the money and begin to build a brand-new system as quickly as possible,” he said.
Duffy was referring to his multibillion-dollar plan to completely overhaul the nation’s aging air traffic control infrastructure, which includes updates to communication radios, computer systems, wiring and traffic control towers. Details about funding and the implementation timeline remain unclear.