Trump blames Biden for US air traffic control failures, urges Congress to fund system overhaul

US President Donald Trump has blamed his predecessor Joe Biden's administration for the deteriorating condition of the country's air traffic control infrastructure and urged Congress to release funds for a comprehensive overhaul.

In two posts on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump accused the Biden administration of spending money inefficiently and leaving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its air traffic control network in a worse state.

"The Biden Administration was an FAA disaster. Everything they touched turned bad. Big money spent unwisely, making an old and broken system worse than when they began," Trump wrote.

He said his administration had developed a plan to upgrade the country's flight control systems but needed Congress to approve the required funding. Trump also praised the FAA's current performance, saying the agency was ready to move ahead with the proposed work.

In a separate post, the US president said much of the country's air traffic control infrastructure was around 50 years old and argued that replacing it through gradual upgrades would not be sufficient.

"If Congress approves the desperately needed money for Air Traffic Control, we can get it built quickly and efficiently," he wrote, adding that the work should be undertaken as a comprehensive exercise rather than in "drips and drabs".

Trump's remarks follow nationwide flight disruption

The posts came after the FAA imposed a nationwide ground stop on Friday following problems with its communications and radar systems, disrupting air travel across the United States.

The disruption lasted around five hours and affected thousands of flights. The FAA subsequently lifted the restrictions, but airlines faced further delays as aircraft and crew members had to be repositioned.

Trump's comments came amid renewed scrutiny of the reliability of the country's ageing aviation infrastructure.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the disruption involved older equipment being overwhelmed during the installation of new technology. Officials pointed to communications and radar problems at air traffic control facilities, although investigations into the incident were continuing.

US administration seeks billions for air traffic control upgrades

The Trump administration is seeking substantial additional funding from Congress to replace ageing equipment and modernise the country's air traffic control network.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy raised the administration's funding request to $50 billion on Friday, after seeking $30.1 billion a day earlier. The proposed spending is intended to support upgrades to communications networks, radar equipment, software and other aviation infrastructure.

Congress had previously approved $12.5 billion for the FAA's air traffic control modernisation programme as part of legislation signed by Trump in 2025.

The government has already begun work on replacing outdated infrastructure. In December 2025, the FAA appointed Peraton as the prime integrator to coordinate the rollout of a new air traffic control system. The project includes replacing legacy telecommunications networks, radar systems, hardware and software.

Ageing infrastructure has been a longstanding problem

While Trump has blamed the Biden administration for the condition of the FAA, concerns about outdated air traffic control technology predate both administrations.

A September 2026 report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the FAA had struggled for decades to modernise its air traffic control systems. In September 2024, more than 75% of the agency's 138 air traffic control systems were classified as unsustainable or potentially unsustainable.

The watchdog also flagged gaps in the latest modernisation programme, including the absence of a reliable estimate of its overall lifecycle cost and a detailed integrated schedule. It cautioned that an accelerated rollout without adequate planning could lead to additional delays and disruptions.

The Biden administration's infrastructure law had also allocated $25 billion for FAA improvements, including airport facilities and air traffic control infrastructure.

The GAO findings point to a problem that has extended across multiple administrations, rather than establishing that the Biden administration alone caused the deterioration Trump has alleged.

The latest funding push now rests with Congress, which will have to decide whether to approve the additional money sought by the Trump administration.