Trump administration seeks FAA upgrades, Dulles airport redesign

The Trump administration is working to bring the nation’s aviation system into the digital age, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday announcing long-awaited upgrades to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and outlining plans to overhaul Washington Dulles International Airport.

Duffy said during Trump’s ninth Cabinet meeting that the agency has fast-tracked the FAA’s shift from copper to fiber infrastructure and has committed to purchasing new radios and radars.

“Many of you have heard that we have an infrastructure made of copper. We have to switch to fiber. The last administration said it would take more than 10 years to complete the switch from copper to fiber. They didn’t have a plan to actually do it,” Duffy said, adding that the current administration has already completed a third of that switch.

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Duffy acknowledged that it will take longer for the country’s aviation system to transition from analogue to digital, but the administration is committed to doing so.

“The rest of the world switched 20 years ago from analog to digital. We’re going to do that at the FAA now. But we’re buying new radios. We’re going to buy new radar. By the way, those radars [are] He added that it will be made in America.

Trump and Duffy also announced plans to fix Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, which they said was poorly designed.

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“We are going to change that and transform Dulles Airport into something truly amazing,” Trump said.

President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday announced plans to overhaul Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

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Dulles Airport remains very important because it handles the majority of the region’s long-haul international flights and is vital for diplomats, government officials, international organizations, and global business travelers. It is also a major hub for United Airlines.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority reported that Dulles saw 9.3 million international passengers in 2023, a new record that exceeded 2022’s international activity by 26.9%.

Passengers check departure information at Washington Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC (Sha Hanting/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

Despite being an important international gateway, the airport has long been criticized for its infrastructure, which officials say appears to be stuck in the 1960s rather than updated to modern standards. For example, officials have called for the cancellation of Dallas’ “people movers” — a type of airport transportation vehicle officially known as mobile lounges — because they have become obsolete.

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Trent Morse, a candidate for the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority board who is pushing for its removal, called it a “relic of the past,” according to Axios.

Likewise, Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz described them as “glaciers” and “tank-like.”