DALLAS — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg held a briefing with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Mike Whitaker to discuss the Biden administration's funding request for the FAA in fiscal year 2025. The proposed budget aims to allocate resources to operate, modernize, and ensure the safety of the national air transport system.

The FAA fiscal year 2025 funding request includes a total budget of US$20.8 billion, which will be utilized to operate and modernize the national air transport system. Specifically, US$3.6 billion will be allocated for facility and equipment upgrades, while US$3.4 billion will be dedicated to improving airports nationwide. A further US$250 million will be allocated for research initiatives, with an additional US$1 billion designated for capital needs.

Combined with the US$5 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law, the total FAA fiscal year 2025 funding request amounts to US$26.8 billion.

Where Will the Funding Go?

According to Whitaker, the funding proposal centers around three key priorities:

1. Increase Hiring and Training of Air Traffic Controllers (ATC): To address the growing demands of air traffic control, the FAA aims to accelerate the hiring and training process for ATC personnel. The plan includes recruiting 1,800 new controllers in 2024 and at least 2,000 in 2025. The FAA also plans to establish a new recruiting class in Oklahoma City to facilitate this process.
2. Modernize Air Traffic Control Facilities: In recognition of the aging infrastructure, which includes 350 ATC facilities with an average age of 40 and 21 centers that control high-altitude traffic designed to have a 50-year lifetime but that are 60 years old, the proposed budget allocates US$1 billion in the fiscal year 2025 to modernize ATC facilities and radar systems. This investment aims to enhance the efficiency and reliability of air traffic control operations.
3. Safety Oversight Resources: The recent Boeing 737 MAX incident reminds us of the FAA's critical safety mission. The proposed budget includes 1.8 billion dollars for the Office for Aviation Safety to strengthen safety measures and oversight. This funding will support production oversight and operational safety, ensuring the aviation industry maintains the highest standards.

Questions Regarding Boeing

When asked about Boeing's production quality issues, Buttigieg said that the DOT was not neutral on the question of Boeing fully cooperating with all government entities—NTSB, FAA, and DOT—and that the FAA has made it clear to Boeing that it needs to undergo a "serious transformation" in terms of its responsiveness, culture, and quality issues.

Whitaker added that the FAA "significantly" increased Boeing's audit and oversight after the Alaska Airlines (AS) January 5th door plug blowout and that if they saw something that required a cease of production or "to pull something down, we'll do that." The ongoing FAA audits focus on the gaps in Boeing's quality assurance process. This includes implicit production areas such as tool management, i.e., seeing that staff has the right tools, training, and the proper blueprints, among other findings from the factory floor.

Following a meeting between Whitaker and Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun at the end of February, the FAA announced it had given Boeing a 90-day deadline to devise a plan for addressing its quality control concerns, emphasizing the need for substantial and lasting improvements.

The FAA administrator also responded to a question regarding today's LATAM (LA) Boeing 787-9 mid-flight drop incident, Flight LA800, saying that it would work with the New Zealand and Chilean authorities while assuring the flying public that the FAA has "dramatically increased our oversight of the actual production of the aircraft."

The bottom line is that the FAA fiscal year 2025 funding request represents a comprehensive strategy to improve and modernize the safest national air transport system in the world. With a focus on increasing hiring, modernizing infrastructure, and enhancing safety oversight, the proposed budget aims to bolster air travel's efficiency, reliability, and safety for the years to come.

Watch the full briefing below.