Delta CEO says air traffic control systems are so outdated that some routes were faster in the 1950s
Chronic flight delays and cancellations at Newark Liberty International Airport last year revealed a litany of problems with outdated air traffic control systems. Today, these problems persist and are brought even more into focus by the FAA’s national ground shutdown on Friday.
Even Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy admitted last year that some of the computer equipment used for decades by air traffic controllers appears to have come from the movie set. Apollo 13and compared it to a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian also revealed last year that due to aging air traffic control systems, it takes longer to connect Atlanta to LaGuardia today than it did in the 1950s, when the airline opened that route.
“It’s the air traffic control system. It’s very slow. It’s congested,” he said. TODAY in May 2025. “If you modernize the sky, you can somehow bring greater efficiency. »
In modernizing the skies, the airline chief intends to use satellite technology, the latest cutting-edge equipment and GPS. But currently, air traffic controllers must use a point-and-shoot radar system dating from the 1960s.
“The screens look like something from the 60s and 70s,” Bastian said. “Our controllers and operators need the best to keep us safe and ensure our safety record is maintained.”
Despite a series of emergency landings, machine failures, collisions and other air traffic control failures in the airline industry reported this year, he insists it is still possible to fly safely.
“It’s absolutely safe. It’s the safest form of transportation in the world,” Bastian said. “The world’s most skilled aviation professionals work and operate U.S. airspace, so it is absolutely safe.”
But just because it’s safe doesn’t make it acceptable for the United States to have such archaic technology to exploit its airspace, Bastian said.
Although both parties support modernizing the U.S. air traffic control system, it is a process that requires significant time and money. On May 8, 2025, Duffy and President Donald Trump announced a plan to build an entirely new air traffic control system “that will be the envy of the world.”
The plan includes replacing outdated infrastructure with wireless and satellite technologies at more than 4,600 air traffic control sites, constructing six new air traffic coordination centers, and replacing towers and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON).
“Our outdated air traffic control system is impacting our workforce,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. “As Secretary Duffy said, we need to get the best safety technology into the hands of controllers as soon as possible.” Reuters reported in late March that the FAA was short about 3,500 air traffic controllers.
On Friday, Duffy called on Congress to dedicate $50 billion to modernization. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, however, estimates it could cost $12.5 billion. The Modern Skies Coalition, an umbrella group of aviation industry groups, estimated it would cost $31 billion or more.
But in the short term, the airline industry is making adjustments to reduce flight delays and cancellations resulting from air traffic control issues. Many airlines are suspending operations in Newark, Bastian said, which alleviates some of the congestion at the airport.
“It’s not good in the long term. It’s not good for consumers,” Bastian said. “It’s not good for the airport itself, but it’s the only thing we have in the meantime.”
A version of this story originally published on Fortune.com on May 16, 2025.
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