ORLANDO, Fla. — For years, aviation experts have warned that the nation’s air traffic control system is outdated and in need of major investment.
A solution for that is just getting underway at Orlando International Airport.
That’s where only WFTV anchor Alexa Lorenzo spoke one-on-one with U.S. Sec. of Transportation Sean Duffy. She found out first-hand what’s coming to Central Florida’s largest airport.
High above the runways at Orlando International, Sec. Duffy saw it for himself.
“You guys need a lot of money to upgrade it, to modernize it, which is what we’re doing.”
Duffy said $40 million of upgrades are coming to our airport. They include new radars to give controllers a better way to track aircraft, new voice switches to improve controller pilot communication, and replacing the paper flight strips with electronic ones — all by next year.
Lorenzo asked Duffy, “When you hear the word ‘aging,’ it could make passengers a little nervous. Is our airspace safe with the current system?”
“We have a safer airspace than anyone in the world, and air travel is the safest mode of travel,” Duffy answered.
He added, “You have to look at the age and understand that if you don’t update it, it will not be as safe as we have it today, and that’s why I’m going to grapple with that problem.”
Recent incidents, including last year’s deadly mid-air collision in Washington, D.C., and the March 22 runway crash at LaGuardia Airport in New York, have intensified the spotlight on modernization.
Duffy said while the upgrades underway are significant, a larger challenge remains — building a new software system from the ground up. He said if Congress approves an additional $10 billion within the next six months, travelers could see a more efficient airspace with fewer delays and cancellations within about four years.
Lorenzo then posed this question: “This is high level work — let’s bring it down to the lay people. What will Betty see when she goes to visit her grandma in Kentucky?”
“So what I want Betty to see is nothing — none of the internal workings... not that we’ve gone from copper wires to fiber or analog to digital. She doesn’t feel that," Duffy responded. He added, “But what Betty is going to see when she travels, is she’s gonna say, ‘It was fast, it was easy, it was seamless.’ That’s what I want her experience to be.”
Duffy said that over the next two years, officials will also install new ground radar to digitally track planes on the runway and replace new display systems for controllers.