For years, people have blamed the U.S. Air Traffic Control (ATC) system for a whole range of problems. Too many flight delays? It’s because there aren’t enough controllers. A nationwide ground stop after the NOTAM system crashed? Blame outdated technology. Constant congestion over places like Florida or New York? Inefficient routings and airspace restrictions.
One way or another, it all comes back to the ATC system.
A System Where Mistakes Can Be Catastrophic
The problem is, there’s no easy answer for how to fix it. We’re dealing with a mission-critical network where a single failure can trigger nationwide disruption — or worse.
Recently, we’ve had a string of alarming near misses. And in early 2025, a tragic mid-air collision just outside Washington, D.C., brought the worst-case scenario into sharp focus. A regional airliner and an Army helicopter collided during final approach, killing several onboard. Investigators revealed that only one controller was staffing the radar facility responsible for sequencing both aircraft — a position usually handled by two people.
The NOTAM Meltdown (and a Starlink Aside)
The 2023 NOTAM system crash was a wake-up call. That system, which alerts pilots to runway closures, hazards, and other safety notices, hadn’t been significantly upgraded in decades. When it failed, the FAA had to ground every single commercial flight in the country.
A replacement was quickly promised, but progress has been slow and costly. Nearly two years later, the project has run hundreds of millions of dollars over budget and still isn’t fully deployed. At one point, Starlink — yes, that Starlink — was floated as a potential backup system, and the FAA is now testing it with a nudge from Elon Musk himself.
An Unstable Funding Model
Modernizing a system like this isn’t cheap, and the way we fund it doesn’t help.
ATC operations are supported by a combination of aviation-related taxes, such as those on airline tickets and jet fuel, as well as general budget appropriations. The aviation taxes fluctuate with travel demand, while the general budget is at the mercy of Congress — which hasn’t exactly been dependable. The FAA has spent years operating under a cycle of short-term extensions and near-shutdowns. Try planning a multi-billion-dollar, decade-long modernization effort under those conditions.
More Than Just Machines — It’s People
Even if the tech were perfect, the system would still rely on the people who staff the control towers and radar rooms. And right now, there aren’t enough of them.
The FAA is thousands of controllers short, largely due to hiring freezes, early retirements, and a multi-year training process that cannot be easily accelerated. The result? Overtime, fatigue, and scheduling gaps that create delays and — in the worst cases — safety risks.
Everyone Has a Say (And That Slows Everything Down)
The ATC system has a long list of stakeholders: airlines, airports, labor unions, general aviation groups, military users, and local and national politicians. Each has their own priorities — and their own veto power over proposed reforms.
Efforts to privatize or restructure the system have failed on multiple occasions. Even implementing relatively minor upgrades, like transitioning to digital flight tracking strips, has taken decades. Simply put: getting everyone to agree is its own full-time job.
Want to Understand the Whole Picture?
This CNBC video does a great job breaking down the challenges and why progress has been so slow:
In Summary…
Fixing ATC will take more than frustration. It will take money. It will take long-term planning. And most of all, it will take the political will to finally treat this not as a nuisance to patch — but as essential infrastructure worth rebuilding from the inside out.
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