By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will urge Congress on Thursday to approve billions of dollars to replace aging radar, telecommunications equipment, towers and other facilities in an overhaul of the crumbling air traffic control system, airline officials said.
Duffy, who will be joined by the CEOs of the five largest airlines and senior executives at Boeing and Airbus at 1:30 p.m. ET (1730 GMT) to unveil the plan at the department’s headquarters, will not set a precise figure for the overhaul that he has previously estimated will cost “tens of billions of dollars.”
The Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control network’s woes have been years in the making, but a rush of high-profile mishaps, near-misses and a catastrophic crash in January have spiked public alarm and prompted new calls for action.
The CEOs of United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines will speak at the event.
“We are now in the market to buy a gorgeous brand new system,” President Donald Trump said at a separate event on Thursday.
Also attending will be relatives of some of the 67 people killed on January 29 in the mid-air collision between a U.S. Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet.
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy will also speak as will the Republican chairs of the committees overseeing the Federal Aviation Administration, Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Sam Graves, Senator Jerry Moran and Representative Rick Larsen.
“We’re going to build a brand new air traffic control system, from new telecom to new radars to new infrastructure,” Duffy said earlier this week, estimating it will take three to four years to address.
Duffy has said he wants new funding on surface detection equipment at airports to prevent near miss incidents and new incentives to boost air traffic controller hiring, which is 3,500 short of targeted staffing.
Trump during his first term in 2017 proposed privatizing air traffic control, but Congress never acted on his proposal.
Airlines and others are expected to call for around $31 billion in spending, while a U.S. House panel has proposed $12.5 billion in initial spending on air traffic control reform, including $2.5 billion for air traffic tower and contract-tower replacements.
(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Bill Berkrot)
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