Sean Duffy, the Transportation Secretary, is advocating for a significant modernization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) due to its continued use of outdated technology like ‘floppy discs’ in their computer system.

Against the backdrop of recent plane accidents, Duffy raised concerns about the FAA’s obsolete infrastructure, highlighting that certain systems within the organization are still reliant on ‘floppy discs.’

‘The technology we are currently using is extremely outdated. I urge Congress to expedite the process. We cannot afford to wait for four, six, or even ten years. The time for action is now,’ Duffy emphasized in an interview with CBS News.

Donald Trump’s Administration has set its sights on replacing the nation’s entire air traffic control system following a spate of plane crashes.

Two people died in a mid-air collision at Arizona’s Marana Airport on Wednesday, just days after a Delta plane crash landed in Toronto and flipped upside down, causing several serious injuries.

The repeat crashes are the latest in a string of aviation disasters that have plagued the country in recent weeks, including one of the worst in recent US history when 67 people died in a horror crash over Reagan International Airport last month.

Duffy enlisted the help of Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, to give advice on ‘simple, easy steps’ the government can take to modernize the air traffic control system.

Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team visited the Air Traffic Control command center and Potomac TRACON in Warrenton, Virginia, on Monday.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claimed the FAA has systems that are still fun on floppy discs

Duffy defended the decision to fire hundreds of FAA employees amid the recent crashes, claiming the cuts were ‘incredibly small’

Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau confirmed on Wednesday that the DOGE team will be at other FAA facilities, including FAA headquarters.

‘We are asking for their help to engineer solutions while we keep the airspace open and safe,’ Rocheleau said in an email to employees that was seen by Reuters. 

‘They will contribute to our goal of continuous improvement, which is the key to making sure flying continues to be the safest mode of transportation. We will learn from them, and they will learn more about aviation safety from us.’

A U.S. Transportation Department spokesperson said the DOGE team at the FAA consists of SpaceX engineers acting as special government employees.

In September, the FAA proposed fining SpaceX $633,000 for allegedly failing to follow license requirements and not getting approval for changes during two launches in 2023.

To avoid conflicts, the SpaceX engineers are being walled off from the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which regulates SpaceX. 

‘I don’t want to see conflicts of interest,’ Duffy said, adding that Musk has talked with air traffic controllers but ‘didn’t plug into the system.’

‘[The SpaceX team] looked at the technology that they used, asked them — had a back-and-forth — about what works well for you, what doesn’t work well.

Trump’s White House began firing hundreds of workers at the FAA this past weekend, cutting staff weeks after personnel shortages were cited as a factor in the fatal mid-air collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Wednesday’s mid-air collision in Arizona comes just two days after a Delta jet crash landed and flipped over at Toronto Pearson International Airport  

On January 29,  an American Airlines passenger jet crashed into an Army Black Hawk helicopter and killed all 67 people aboard both aircraft  

Duffy defended the decision to fire hundreds of FAA employees amid the recent crashing claiming the cuts were ‘incredibly small,’ and said the agency employs 45,000 federal workers.

 ‘All the critical safety positions like air traffic controllers and inspectors, all of those positions have been protected,’ Duff said.

‘No one’s been fired. Actually we were hiring into those spaces. So 352 cuts is 0.8% of the workforce.’

Rocheleau said the moves were ‘in alignment with the Administration’s goal to make government more efficient… I want to assure you the agency has retained employees who perform safety critical functions.’

The FAA remains 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing and has outdated technology. 

In 2022, the FAA said it was working to end a long-ridiculed, decades-old practice of air traffic controllers using paper flight strips to keep track of aircraft. However, adopting the change at 49 major airports will take the FAA until late 2029.