President Donald Trump discusses inflation and the affordability crisis during a Cabinet meeting.
The Trump administration is bringing the nation’s aviation system into the digital age, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announcing long-delayed upgrades at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday and outlining his plans to repair Washington-Dulles International Airport.
Duffy said during President Donald Trump’s ninth Cabinet meeting that the agency has accelerated the FAA’s shift from copper to fiber optic infrastructure and committed to purchasing new radios and radars.
“Many of you have heard that we have copper infrastructure. We need to move to fiber. The last administration said it would take over 10 years to complete the transition from copper to fiber. They had no plan to do it,” Duffy said, adding that the current administration has already completed a third of that transition.
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Duffy admitted it will take even longer for the nation’s aviation system to transition from analog to digital, but the administration is committed to doing so.
Passengers walk at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC (Sha Hanting/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
“Twenty years ago, the rest of the world went from analog to digital. We’re just going to do it at the FAA, right now. But we’re buying new radios. We’re going to buy new radars. By the way, these radars [are] will be made in America,” he added.
Trump and Duffy also announced plans to fix Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia, which they say is poorly designed.
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“We’re going to turn the tide and we’re going to make Dulles Airport… something truly spectacular,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced plans Tuesday to repair Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
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Dulles remains an essential airport as it hosts the majority of the region’s long-haul international flights and is vital for diplomats, government officials, international organizations and international business travelers. It is also a key hub for United Airlines.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority reported that Dulles welcomed 9.3 million international passengers in 2023, a new record that exceeded 2022 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)
Although it is a key international gateway, the airport has long been criticized for its infrastructure, which officials say appears stuck in the 1960s rather than updated to modern standards. For example, officials have called for eliminating Dulles’ “movers” — a type of airport shuttle vehicle officially known as mobile lounges — because they are obsolete.
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Trent Morse, a candidate for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board who is pushing for their removal, called them a “relic of the past,” according to Axios.
Similarly, Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, described them as “glacial” and “reservoir-like.”
