Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called out the Biden administration for allegedly neglecting a government agency’s report about the poor state of the air traffic control system.
In an X post on Tuesday, Duffy shared an excerpt from a report published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) entitled “Air Traffic Control: FAA Actions Are Urgently Needed to Modernize Aging Systems.” The report was published on Sept. 24, 2024.
“A government watchdog warned Biden & Buttigieg about the failing air traffic control system,” Duffy wrote.
“Look at this report. They knew the air traffic control system was strained AND STILL DID NOTHING!”
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused the Biden administration of neglecting a government report highlighting issues with the FAA. (Getty Images)
Duffy went on to say that he was working with President Donald Trump to modernize the system.
“Working with @POTUS, we are going to do what no administration has done: deliver an all-new, envy of the world ATC system,” he concluded.
In the passage that Duffy highlighted, the report noted that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “has been slow to modernize some of the most critical and at-risk systems.”
“Specifically, when considering age, sustainability ratings, operational impact level, and expected date of modernization or replacement for each system, as of May 2024, FAA had 17 systems that were especially concerning,” the report said.
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A Federal Aviation Administration sign hangs in the tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, on March 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
“The 17 systems range from as few as 2 years old to as many as 50 years old, are unsustainable, and are critical to the safety and efficiency of the national airspace.”
Duffy’s comments came amid several chaotic events concerning U.S. air space in recent days. Newark Liberty International Airport, a major travel hub in the New York City metropolitan area, has suffered hundreds of delays and cancellations since last week.
On Monday, a damning report found that FAA air traffic controllers in Philadelphia briefly lost radar and radio signals while guiding planes to Newark Airport last week.
Duffy appeared on Fox News Channel’s “The Story” on Tuesday to discuss the developments, telling host Martha MacCallum that the last presidential administration was aware of the issues.
“It wasn’t shocking to Joe Biden and it wasn’t shocking to Pete Buttigieg,” Duffy said. “They knew we had an old system. They saw the GAO report saying it was about to fail.”
The government official went on to say that he plans to introduce legislation to Congress about the issue shortly.
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 14, 2025. (Getty Images)
“[In January] I started digging into the FAA and realized it wasn’t just one small part of the infrastructure. It was the whole infrastructure that had to be built brand new,” Duffy explained. “And so I’ve developed a plan. I’ve talked to the president. He has signed off on the plan.”
