By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) – The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said the first phase of an ambitious plan to modernize air traffic control will cost billions of dollars more than Congress has approved.
Last year, Congress approved $12.5 billion for air traffic control reforms, including $9 billion for air traffic modernization and $3.5 billion for facilities construction.
“It’s costing $16 billion to do phase one,” Bedford said at a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing. He said the FAA is funding the gap out of its facilities and equipment budget. The FAA wants at least another $10 billion for phase two of the project and Bedford urged lawmakers to approve it.
“The agency is working on scale-up to get this done and get it done right,” Bedford said.
A Government Accountability Office report released on Tuesday said the FAA has underestimated the total costs of operating the new system or set a detailed schedule for completing reforms.
The GAO said the FAA has over 11,000 separate projects in phase one that it has previously estimated at $10.6 billion. Bedford said last year it wanted $15 billion or $16 billion for phase one, explaining the shortfall.
Congress approved the funding to address the aging air traffic control system, and boost controller hiring following decades of complaints over airport congestion and flight delays and a series of technology issues in recent years.
The price tag for telecommunications upgrades has jumped $4.75 billion to $5.91 billion, GAO said. Bedford said outdated telecom copper wires should be completely replaced by September 2027.
The FAA in December tapped Peraton, which is owned by Veritas Capital, to oversee the modernization effort, awarding it a $1.5 billion contract.
(Reporting by David Shepadson; Editing by David Gregorio)
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