Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford briefed key lawmakers Tuesday on his agency’s air traffic control overhaul plan, including that the $12.5 billion tranche of money Congress enacted earlier this year will go toward replacing radars and telecommunications infrastructure — with items such as landing approaches eyed for subsequent funding.
House Transportation Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.), who Bedford briefed along with top Democrat Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), said the FAA will use that $12.5 billion to “replace all the radars and [do] the telecommunications work and staffing.” Then, lawmakers will look for additional funds to tackle items like making landing approaches more efficient, Graves said.
“We’re going to try to streamline a lot and modernize a lot of the approaches and the way you get in and out of an airport so it makes it a lot smoother. Makes it a lot more efficient in terms of fuel, delays, everything else,” Graves said. “And that will come later when we have to come up with the rest of the money.”
Larsen said Bedford “didn’t get into that level of detail” when it comes to what air traffic control facilities might be consolidated. He said the briefing overall went “really well,” but he added: “The devil will be in the details.” Some takeaways:
