The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has praised the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) efforts to modernize the air traffic control system but criticized the agency for moving ahead without a master schedule to coordinate the thousands of projects involved.
The modernization is being carried out under the Brand New Air Traffic Control System (BNATCS), which received an initial congressional appropriation of $12.5 billion. According to the GAO, most of the funding will cover Phase 1 infrastructure upgrades, including replacing copper wires with fibre-optic cables, while another $10.2 billion is needed for Phase 2 automation systems to track aircraft and optimise traffic.
The GAO recommended that the FAA prioritise developing a reliable lifecycle cost estimate for BNATCS and a detailed integrated master schedule for Phase 1. It said the agency has provided only high-level estimates for the phase without supporting analysis or an integrated schedule.
Instead, the FAA has 11,389 individual project schedules that are not integrated, the GAO said. This has resulted in projects being scheduled at the same sites without adequate coordination to minimise disruptions to air traffic controller operations.
The GAO warned that the shortcomings increase risks to the BNATCS and could repeat the FAA’s history of cost overruns, delays and missed performance targets. If the risks materialise, the agency could remain dependent on outdated systems prone to failure, potentially causing more flight delays and safety incidents.
The FAA has plans to address the identified issues, but the GAO noted that the agency had not provided a timeframe for resolving them. It therefore urged stronger cost planning and schedule coordination to improve oversight of the modernization program.