From the mid-air crash near Reagan National Airport to radar screens going black at Newark, the signs are clear. The Trump administration has recently released an ambitious plan to modernize our air traffic control system over the next three years. Here is an exclusive essay by a leading tech founder in the space on how to make it happen.

FIX THE CODE, FIX THE SKIES

Phillip Buckendorf, CEO Air Space Intelligence 

Mission-critical infrastructure fails slowly, then all at once. Look no further than air travel as one of our greatest vulnerabilities.

Our air traffic control (ATC) network is crumbling under the weight of decades-long neglect, and we now stand at the edge of a national crisis. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it’s fixable. President Trump, Secretary Duffy, and the FAA have set out to do just that with their bold plan to overhaul the ATC system in three years.

But as always, the doubters descend—there are plenty who scoff and say it can’t be done. They are wrong. After all, the Empire State Building was raised in 410 days amidst the Great Depression and we reached the lunar surface in less than a decade with 1960s' technology.

We have every resource, every tool, every ounce of capacity to build the most advanced air traffic control system the world has ever seen. Let’s not get stuck in bureaucracy and legacy thinking. Let’s go build!

Today’s Modernization Must Start with Software — Not Hardware

The National Airspace System isn’t just a network of towers and radar—it’s a network of decisions. The quality of those decisions are not determined by how much hardware is installed, but by how effectively we leverage the software that ties it all together.

The real opportunity isn’t just in incremental gains; it’s in a fundamental shift in thinking. The old paradigm says, “Build the facilities, lay the fiber, install the radar, and then figure out how to make it all work together.” But that’s backward.

Instead, we must start from the mission and look at the core automation programs at the FAA. What are we trying to accomplish? What data do we need to surface to the right people at the right time? How can we compress decision cycles to outpace problems before they escalate?

And let’s be clear: prioritizing software does not mean ignoring hardware. But every investment in physical infrastructure should be guided by a single question: What can be turned into a software problem?

For example, the staffing crisis is, at its core, a technology crisis. With modern, intuitive software, the FAA can dramatically accelerate the training of new recruits, enabling them to become operational faster. AI-driven systems can enhance the precision and consistency of operational decisions. This doesn’t just benefit the workforce—it also increases the overall safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System.

As productivity rises, the FAA can reinvest in its people, offering more competitive compensation and attracting world-class talent to public service.

Software is faster. Software is cheaper. And most importantly, software can evolve at the speed of need. Many of America’s most successful tech companies have reimagined entire industries through a software-first approach—from self-driving cars to on-demand delivery.

The Government is Upgrading – Contractors Must Too

The Trump administration rightly demands excellence and efficiency across the government, and that mandate must extend with even greater force to the contractors entrusted with taxpayer dollars.

During the Cold War, America built the world’s most advanced aircraft in record time. Fast forward to today, and the contrast is staggering.

A single government program can now begin with thousands of pages of requirements, burn through tens of millions of dollars just to scope and document, and then drag on for a decade of development. By the time it finally deploys, the technology is obsolete, and the cost to maintain it over the next 20 years far exceeds its value.

As the FAA works to modernize its systems, it needs to consider who is capable of delivering:

• How quickly can your software be updated? How fast do you deliver? If every update requires millions of dollars and a multi-year timeline, it’s not a solution—it’s a liability.



• What commercial technologies have you already built and deployed? Show us what you’ve shipped, not what you’ve promised.



• How can your software be directly applied to solve the FAA’s operational challenges? Don’t tell us how your product fits into a spec—show us how it’s already solving air traffic control or traffic flow management problems in the industry. 

This is the type of solutions-first approach government agencies are starting to take – particularly at the Department of Defense. But we must not isolate the integration of the best software and hardware only to our warfighters. Every American deserves a government that keeps them safe and makes critical services like air travel, easier. 

The U.S. National Airspace System should set the global standard as the very best—not serve as a warning of what happens when we fail to modernize.

-Phillip Buckendorf