The U.S. Department of Transportation and FAA have launched a new website showing air traffic control modernization projects under way across the country. The Modern Skies site will be updated monthly and is intended to track more than 10,000 projects tied to upgrades in communications, surveillance, automation, facilities, Alaska airspace and other systems. It includes a national project map, a progress tracker and a search tool that allows users to look up work by city, airport code, ZIP code, state or congressional district.
“One of the reasons past air traffic control modernization efforts failed was a lack of transparency,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. “We’re taking a different approach – letting every American get a front row view of how President Trump is revolutionizing our skies.”
The program includes work at more than 4,600 FAA sites, including planned upgrades like new radio systems, digital voice switches, radar replacements, surface surveillance systems and electronic flight strips.
The FAA says that, by the end of 2028, the effort is expected to include 5,170 high-speed network connections, 27,000 radios across 1,581 sites, 450 digital voice switches, 612 radar systems, 89 towers with electronic flight strips and 435 control towers with new Enterprise Information Display Systems.
I took a look at the FAA website. There isn’t much detail about the projects, just what they are. No cost or schedule. Full transparency would be scope, cost, schedule - standard data for any project.