Washington
CNN
—
A key aviation safety system that failed twice in the last three years and caused the only US airspace shutdown since 9/11 will be replaced years ahead of schedule, the Trump administration says.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM system, was slated to be replaced in 2030. Now, the FAA says a new, modernized system will be online by September.
“The FAA used a streamlined, innovative vendor challenge to cut through red tape to get this critical work done as fast as possible,” the agency said in a news release.
NOTAMs are bulletins that all pilots are required to read before taking off. They include critical safety information such as runway and taxiway closures. The system failed in January 2023, triggering the FAA to institute a nationwide ground stop the following morning, which led to thousands of flight delays. An outage on February 1 of this year led the FAA to use a backup system, but officials said there was “minimal disruption” to flights.
“Over the last few years, we’ve seen multiple system outages ground regional air travel, create extensive delays, and otherwise ruin the flying experience for the American people,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. “NOTAM modernization is the first step as we work to deliver an all-new air traffic control system that makes air travel safer and more efficient.”
The FAA said it awarded the contract to CGI Federal, Inc., a subsidiary of the Canadian IT firm CGI.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has focused on changing the NOTAM system. In February, an FAA order revised the Biden-era name change to “Notice to Air Missions,” which was created in 2021, on the grounds that it was “inclusive of all aviators and missions.”
