Sean Duffy says FAA’s aging infrastructure needs to updated but “it’s a hard problem to solve”

[0:00] Friday's nationwide ground stop lasted just over four hours, but the effects are still [0:06] being felt this morning, with more than 1,900 flights already canceled and disruptions expected [0:12] to continue. After nearly two days of silence on the crisis, President Trump is weighing in for [0:18] the first time this morning on his social media platform, calling the FAA under his predecessor, [0:24] quote, a disaster, and also urging Congress to approve, quote, desperately needed funding to [0:30] modernize the system. For more, we go now to the Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy. Good [0:37] morning to you, Mr. Secretary. Will the country be back to fully operational with a full flight [0:44] schedule by the end of today? So we have some delays in the airspace right now, but as we look to [0:50] the end of the day and end of tomorrow, we should be running at full capacity. What happens with a [0:55] ground stop? Like on Friday, we have airplanes and crews that are out of position, so it takes [1:00] a little bit of time for the airlines to get back and choreographed and at full capacity and operations, [1:07] but we're well on our way. So I know that there was a router in El Dorado, Arkansas, as I understand [1:15] it, that became an issue on Friday. You said on another network this morning there was a second issue [1:21] at a radar site in Amarillo, Texas. Are those two things related, and if so, why did they both become [1:28] problems on Friday? Yeah, so the Amarillo facility, that work had been done weeks ago, and so why, [1:37] when we did the install in El Dorado, did that start to broadcast data into our network, but then also [1:44] the facility in Amarillo. Why did that happen? We're investigating that right now. We actually have [1:50] both routers with L3 Harris, who operates and owns our network. FAA is on site as well. FBI is offering [1:59] support. We're looking at that right now, and when we know what the root cause of this issue was, [2:04] was it the install from L3 Harris? Was it the router? I'm going to tell you and the American people [2:09] what we find. So was the issue old infrastructure, or was it new equipment? So first off, the telecom [2:18] in El Dorado, it was an old copper wire that basically was going to be decommissioned. They [2:25] said it can't be used anymore, so we were forced by the telecom provider to actually update that copper [2:31] to fiber, and we brought in our routers and did the work, and that's when we saw the flooding of the [2:38] network. So this is part of our maintenance that we do on this really old architecture of a telecom [2:45] network that was, I mean, this goes back decades. By the way, the rest of the world, every institution, [2:51] every company, not just in the U.S., but around the world, they've all switched over to digital [2:56] and fiber. It's just the FAA is still using this really old telecom network that has to be updated, [3:04] upgraded, and I think built brand new. So the union that represents aviation safety specialists, [3:11] PASS, as they're called, said the issue was isolated to two contractor-owned and maintained routers that [3:16] were being updated in the middle of the day, and they said their technicians were not involved in the [3:22] upgrades. So I wonder, did the FAA do a risk assessment in advance and know that something like [3:29] this was happened, or were you totally caught off guard? So let's be clear. The union that works at [3:35] the FAA, they'll do the work on the radios, our equipment, or the radar, our equipment. They do all [3:40] of the work on FAA-owned equipment. This union doesn't do any work on telecom, and it's our telecom [3:48] contractor and providers, like L3 Harris in this situation, they're the ones that actually do the [3:53] work. So the FAA lets L3 Harris into our, uh, into our sites, and then L3 Harris will do the telecom [4:01] work, but, uh, our, this union only works on our equipment. This telecom is not our, that's not our [4:07] equipment. It's L3 Harris' network. So just to clarify that, this, this was done, um, appropriately, which by the [4:13] way, it's been done thousands of times, um, by us, by others, uh, and other companies. This has never happened. And so [4:20] that's why when you have a remote location like this, we felt comfortable doing it in the middle [4:25] of the day because it's been done thousands of times. We've never had this situation. We're going [4:30] to have to reevaluate now when we do this work. Now, normally, if you have a big facility, a Newark [4:35] or an Atlanta or an L.A., we have work to do. We do that at night. Uh, but in a remote location, [4:40] we can do it during the day because the risk historically has been very low. Obviously on Friday, [4:46] we saw, no, it, it, it flooded our network and we had to, uh, take the extraordinary step of issuing a ground [4:52] stop. So there was not a risk assessment or there was a risk assessment and this was just not foreseen as an [4:58] issue. Oh, no, no. Listen, we do risk assessments on everything, right? And if you want to talk about a risk [5:03] assessment, uh, the GAO has done a risk assessment on my network, on all of the old equipment. And they'll [5:08] say, hey, this is, this is risky America. Make the investments, um, and fix American air traffic [5:15] control systems. And, uh, by the way, the Congress gave me $12 and a half billion. I'm, uh, I've, I've, I've got [5:20] ordered new radar, new radios, new voice switches. We're doing all of that, but it's also risky to say [5:26] we're operating on a 1980s network with copper wires. So we've done a risk assessment. How do you switch [5:34] over from copper to fiber? We keep airplanes safe in the sky. That's our number one priority. Uh, we've done [5:40] that and which is why it's worked thousands of times when we've made the switch over. Well, when [5:45] this time it, it didn't and the, go ahead. Yeah. So you just mentioned that the government [5:50] accountability, um, office, they also in a September report concluded that there is a push to [5:57] modernize quickly and that the FAA is buying delivery speed at the risk of cost uncertainty and [6:04] potential disruptions. So should you have seen this company? Well, first off with regard to the GAO, [6:12] um, my, my number one priority is safety, which is why we shut down the airspace on Friday, [6:16] right? We did the closure because, uh, we, my, no, I'm going to get to that, but we, I want to make [6:23] sure that, that Americans get from point A to point B safely. They get back to their loved ones. Uh, I want [6:28] them to be on time, but I want them to be safe, which is why we issued the ground stop. In regard to speed, [6:33] um, we are going, I think at the right, at the right speed. Um, we, we have to get off old network, [6:39] old telecom, by the way, that's why I've already switched over 70% of, uh, copper to fiber without [6:46] incident, without issue. Um, almost 470 radios have been switched over new, uh, new, uh, new electronic [6:53] flight strips and towers. We're doing incredible work. And just let's be, let's be clear about one [6:58] thing. For decades, this work, uh, in our, uh, in, uh, in the FAA has not been done. It hasn't been [7:04] done because it's hard. I don't, I don't know. I don't want to be dishonest. It's a hard problem to [7:10] solve. The Trump administration, with my leadership, we are solving the problem. We're building, um, and [7:17] deploying new technology. One of the problems I have is I need more money, uh, to, to build a new [7:23] telecom network. I need new software, but we're doing the right thing by, uh, by way of the [7:28] American people by fixing this really, really old system that was left to us. But respectfully, [7:34] the American people have put a lot of money into infrastructure upgrades in 2021. It was $25 [7:41] billion for upgrades under Biden, under your administration, the Trump administration, [7:46] as you just said, 12 and a half billion for upgrades. Democrats say the lion's share of the money that [7:52] was provided to you. You just have not obligated or spent. Why? And if the White House has allowed [7:59] for reprogramming of funds, why do you keep saying Congress is stopping you from spending the money [8:04] they're giving you? So first off, um, the, there was a lot of money that was given to the FAA in the [8:09] past, and I can't answer for other secretaries or other FAA administrators. A lot of money was given, [8:14] not a lot of work was done. So when I asked for a massive amount of money to fix the system, [8:19] what the Congress did is they said, okay, we'll give you a partial funding, $12 and a half billion [8:24] in one big, beautiful bill. And they were very specific in how we spend it. Now I can't, [8:30] I can't go buy radar off the shelf. This is a massive order. So we've asked, um, those who won [8:36] the contract, I want them to build the radar in America. They'll start to deliver those radar to us [8:41] in the spring. All of them will be deployed by the end of 2028. So all that money hasn't been spent, [8:46] but it's been obligated to radar radios, the same thing. I'm buying radios, but they don't, [8:51] they're not on the shelf. They have to be built. Um, they specifically said how I spend the money [8:56] and I've, and I've got it all spent ready to be deployed by the end of, uh, the, the president's, [9:01] uh, tenure, uh, in office. But what I don't have money for is the new telecom system. I don't have [9:07] money for new software. Those, those are critical pieces to the infrastructure. Uh, and it's been [9:14] historically underinvested in. I'm making the case to the American people in the Congress [9:19] for the first time. The FAA is taking your money and we're actually building with your money. [9:24] Let me continue. Let's finish the job. Let's not see what happened on Friday. Let's not let it happen [9:29] again. Let's make sure we keep the American people safe. You have 50 billion. All right, [9:34] Mr. Secretary, I'm told you have to get to another network. Thank you for your time this morning.