The FAA disagrees with the findings, saying it has developed reliable cost estimates and a detailed planning schedule.
The fast pace at which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aims to modernise air traffic control (ATC) could lead to budget overruns, delays and airspace disruptions, according to a new US government report.
But the FAA insists it is taking a “disciplined” approach, managing the programme in accordance with “best practices” – while conceding it can make improvements.
“In the interest of expediency, FAA is introducing additional risk,” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released 14 September.
It says the FAA lacks a “reliable lifecycle cost estimate” and an “integrated master schedule”.
Those factors could cause “cost overruns and unmet performance targets” and “excessive disruptions to air traffic control operations”, says the report.
The GAO, an independent agency charged with evaluating government programmes, issued the report to the US House of Representatives’ subcommittee on government operations.
The report examines the air traffic control modernisation set underway by the Trump administration in 2025 following the midair collision in January that year between a US Army helicopter and passenger jet near Washington, DC.
Called the Brand-New Air Traffic Control System programme, the effort has been fast-tracked by the administration, which aims to complete an initial phase by end-2028.
The GAO notes the FAA exempted the project from typical acquisition management requirements.
It urges the FAA to “prioritise developing a lifecycle cost estimate” and “a detailed integrated master schedule”.
Asked to comment, the FAA defers to a 12 August letter it sent to the GAO.
“By employing disciplined programme management, coordinated scheduling and responsible stewardship of both appropriated and requested funding,
FAA plans to achieve the goals of” Phase 1 by end-2028, it says. “Recognising the importance, scale, complexity and speed of deployment of [the project], the agency is committed to rigorous cost and schedule discipline.”
The FAA denies both that it “did not develop reliable cost estimates” and that “an integrated master schedule does not exist”.
Two-part overhaul
Phase 1 of the FAA’s two-part ATC modernisation involves replacing ageing systems – radars, controller displays and voice-communication and weather equipment. The FAA has estimated Phase 1 will cost $10.6 billion, of which it already secured $9 billion from Congress, the GAO notes.
The report does cite FAA progress, noting it hired technology firm Peraton to oversee Phase 1 as prime contractor.
But the GAO says the FAA is working through “11,389 individual project schedules that are not integrated”.
Phase 2 is what the FAA calls “a comprehensive reinvention” of ATC. It involves adopting a “common automation platform” to track aircraft and assist with flight scheduling to ensure air traffic flows efficiently. The agency also plans to build up to six new Air Route Traffic Control Centres.
The FAA has estimated Phase 2 will cost $10.2 billion but has not disclosed a timeline, the GAO says.
Still, it notes, “The goal is to be achieved at an unprecedented speed” when compared to prior FAA modernisation projects.
The agency has had such work underway since 1982. Since 2003, updates have fallen under “NextGen”, a modernisation initiative that has suffered from repeated delays and cost overruns, the GAO has reported.
A 2024 GAO report found that 75% of the FAA’s 138 ATC systems “were unsustainable or potentially unsustainable”.
The GAO in 2025 flagged issues affecting ATC technologies:
- Traffic flow management: This seeks to keep flights moving swiftly by balancing air traffic demand with capacity.
- But FAA systems suffer from “ageing infrastructure”, with some expected to be “untenable by 2027”.
- Terminal flight data manager: Implementing this capability, intended to improve the efficiency of aircraft ground movements at airports, has suffered cost overruns and delays; some controllers still rely on paper strips.
- Information display systems: These screens, used by controllers to view air traffic, run on “obsolete technology (eg, floppy disks) and interfaces from the 1980s”.
- Standard terminal automation replacement system: Used to track, coordinate and sequence flights, this system depends on “end of life” components.
- En Route Automation Modernisation: This system manages high-latitude flights but “relies on disparate, ageing systems”.
- Other out-of-date systems: telecommunications, voice switches, radio equipment, surveillance radars
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