The US Federal Aviation Administration faces a funding shortfall in the first phase of its $10.6 billion air traffic control modernisation programme, after a Government Accountability Office review warned that the effort is being pushed ahead at the expense of cost certainty. Congress has approved $9 billion for phase one, while the FAA is drawing on $1 billion from its current-year budget and still needs another $574 million to close the gap.
The GAO flagged the FAA’s pace as a risk factor for overruns, delays and missed performance targets across the national ATC upgrade, which covers more than 11,000 separate projects in phase one. Telecommunications work has emerged as one of the most expensive elements, with the latest estimate rising by $4.75 billion to $5.91 billion.
The watchdog also found that the FAA has not fully assessed long-term operating costs or set a detailed completion schedule for the wider reform effort. The findings raise fresh questions over whether the agency can deliver the overhaul quickly enough to avoid the disruption and budget strain that have repeatedly dogged previous modernisation efforts.