Chairman Nehls Opening Statement from Hearing on Air Traffic Control System Infrastructure and Staffing

Washington, D.C. - Opening remarks,as prepared, of Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Troy E. Nehls (R-TX) from today's hearing entitled, "America Builds: Air Traffic Control System Infrastructure and Staffing":

Good morning and thank you to our panel of witnesses for being here today. Your testimony will no doubt provide valuable insight into today's critical discussion on air traffic control infrastructure and staffing. I want to be very clear: the reason that we are here today is that, in its current form, this country's air traffic control system is unsustainable.

That statement shouldn't come as a surprise to those in this room. In fact, many of the panelists before us today have been ringing the alarm bell for decades on the need for ATC modernization, increased hiring of controllers, and stable funding streams for the FAA.

Dating back to 1995, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has classified the FAA's efforts to modernize our ATC system as "high-risk." While efforts have been made to address this deep-rooted issue since the nineties, it's clear they've fallen short.

I say that not to heap blame, but to make it clear that we're not much closer to a solution than we were in 1995. We need to rewrite the previous playbook and begin digging out of the hole that we've found ourselves in. This moment in time represents a unique opportunity for the Members of this subcommittee and all aviation stakeholders to coalesce around a common goal: meaningful air traffic control modernization that will benefit the flying public and all users of the National Airspace System.

At the request of this subcommittee, GAO undertook a more recent study on the FAA's air traffic control system. Published just last year, the report noted the urgent need to modernize aging systems and found that 51 of the agency's 138 ATC systems were "unsustainable," or roughly 37 percent of systems; 54 of the agency's 138 ATC systems were "potentially unsustainable," or roughly 39 percent systems; and of those 105 systems identified as "unsustainable" or "potentially unsustainable," 58 have critical operational impacts on the safety and efficiency of the national airspace.

For a country that considers itself the gold standard in aviation safety, these numbers are unacceptable, and we must do better. While it's easy to lay blame at the feet of the FAA, and their project management is certainly not blameless, we also have to look at our own shortfalls.

With a finite capital budget and unstable funding, the agency is forced into the impossible predicament of having to dedicate vast amounts of money on simply sustaining old and outdated systems, leaving little left over for capital improvement projects.

Furthermore, it is admittedly a technical challenge to modernize a robust system, with little to no interruption, that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and transports almost 3 million passengers daily. Solving this problem will require the support of all parties involved. However, if we're all pulling in the same direction, I have no doubt Congress can rise to the occasion.

Much like Chairman Graves, and I suspect many others in this room, I was thrilled to hear that President Trump and Secretary Duffy have voiced their support for historic investments in air traffic control facilities and technologies.

In keeping with the theme of today's hearing, America Builds, and the President's promise on building physical infrastructure, this is a truly unique opportunity to modernize our air traffic system. Once again, I'd like to thank our witnesses for being here today and look forward to their testimony as we tackle one of the largest issues facing the long-term success of the aviation industry in this country.

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