By Vincent E. Bianco III • Contributing Writer
September 23, 2026
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New air traffic control automation increases controller workload before it reduces it, often for years. Having lived the last transition, I believe the FAA should judge CAP bidders not only on software performance, but on how they will staff, sequence, and manage the deployment.
On September 14, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that the FAA is running its current modernization through 11,389 separate project schedules that nobody has joined into one. As a result, GAO found, the agency sends installation crews to the same facilities again and again, generally without arranging the visits to limit the disruption to controllers.
In one example, technicians are due at a St. Louis facility in April 2027 to prepare for a new voice switch. About eight months later, a different team is due at the same facility to prepare for new information displays.
The air traffic control tower at Los Angeles International Airport. Photo credit: LAX/X.com
Through both visits, the facility must continue handling live traffic.
That work marks the first phase of the FAA’s plan. The larger second phase includes the system five companies are now competing to build.
