The US Government Accountability Office has found that the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control modernisation programme lacks a credible integrated master schedule and a fully documented lifecycle cost estimate. The review centres on the FAA’s Brand New Air Traffic Control System, where phase one is drawing on most of the $12.5 billion Congress provided in July 2025.
GAO said FAA has broken phase one into 11,389 separate project schedules that are not integrated, leaving no single plan for coordinating installations across sites. Officials were also unable to provide the analysis behind high-level cost figures presented in June, and the watchdog warned that the absence of a reliable schedule and cost baseline raises the risk of overruns, delays and missed performance targets.
The report comes as FAA moves to replace ageing systems that have long been flagged as operational and safety risks. Reuters reported that phase one may need another $574 million to finish and that telecommunications upgrade costs have climbed sharply, while GAO also found no estimated start or completion date for phase two.