Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy intends to meet with the CEOs of major airlines on Wednesday regarding the government's $12.5 billion plan to overhaul the air traffic control system in the United States, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Duffy and other top officials have pressed for the upgrade following the deadly midair disaster near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport earlier this year and other recent mishaps and near misses, the New York Post reported.
In July, Congress approved $12.5 billion of the estimated $31.5 billion price tag needed to fully carry out the overhaul of the aging system.
Officials have also been reviewing other major airports nationwide in order to make improvements based on lessons learned from the failures that caused the fiasco in Washington, D.C., Duffy said.
The transportation secretary said that "what we've seen is there is a need to upgrade our system. It is way too old, and that doesn't mean it's not safe, but what we see is, you're starting to see the cracks in the system. You're starting to see blips in communication.
"I would tell you it's not easy, it's really complicated. I think we can get it done in three, four years, if all goes well."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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