Trump Officials Raise Concerns Over ‘Antiquated’ Air Traffic Tech

Vice President JD Vance and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy raised concerns over “antiquated” air traffic technology during interview appearances on Fox News on Sunday.

Why It Matters

America saw two tragic plane crashes this week. On Wednesday night, an American Airlines plane collided with a Black Hawk U.S. military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. There were 64 people onboard the plane and three military members onboard the helicopter, none of which are believed to have survived.

On Friday night, a medical jet carrying six people crashed in northeast Philadelphia near the Roosevelt Mall. The two passengers and four crew members aboard the plane died, along with one other person who was in their car near the crash site. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that all six people on board the plane were Mexican.

The crashes and recent close calls nationwide have continued to raise concerns about safety protocols, and in a news conference on Thursday, President Donald Trump questioned if diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives were partly to blame for the Washington, D.C., crash.

What To Know

Appearing on Sunday Morning Futures, Vance told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that air traffic control is short-staffed, and their software looks “like a video game.”

“There are two big issues here. Number one, most importantly, again, you’ve got to have the right people at air traffic control. Air traffic control is short-staffed, and I think the elimination of DEI hires, DEI policies will allow us actually to hire the air traffic controllers that we need,” Vance said.

The New York Times reported on Friday that over 90 percent of air traffic control facilities in the U.S. are understaffed, citing data from the union representing controllers.

Vance said on Sunday: “The software point is really important, though, because we know if you look at these old, antiquated air traffic control systems, it really does look like a video game. It’s 30 years old. We’ve got better software. We need a federal government that’s more responsive to the technology that’s out there.”

He added that under the Trump administration “our aviation system is going to be much safer.”

Duffy also told host Shannon Bream when appearing on Fox News Sunday that the Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) is “an old antiquated system.”

“It has to be upgraded. That’s in the works. It has been in the works for years. We have to rush this new system online because, again, this is the second time in two years it’s gone down,” he said.

A NOTAM is a notice issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that provides flight crews with real-time information about situations that could affect an aircraft’s safety like weather. The NOTAM system experienced an outage Saturday night, but its backup system has since kicked in, Duffy told Bream.

Duffy also told Bream that America has “the safest skies in the whole world. Traveling by air is the safest mode of transportation,” however, he said later on in the interview: “The air traffic control system doesn’t work in America as effectively as other places in the world. Let’s upgrade it. We should be the best. I need Congress’ help on that one.”

What People Are Saying

Tom Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said at a press conference about the American Airlines crash on Saturday: “Unfortunately, at some point, all of you are gonna be gone. We’re still gonna have the investigation open. We’re going to make recommendations…We have several hundred recommendations open for aviation. You wanna do something about it? Adopt a recommendation of the NTSB. You’ll save lives.”

What Happens Next

The NTSB investigations into the Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia plane crashes remain ongoing.

Inman told reporters on Thursday that the NTSB will issue a preliminary report on the D.C. crash within 30 days and will subsequently release a final report “once we’ve completed all of our fact-finding and investigation.”