Trump urges Congress to fund air traffic control overhaul after nationwide flight disruption

US President Donald Trump urged Congress on Sunday to rapidly approve funding for a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system following widespread flight disruptions caused by a technical failure.

"If Congress approves the desperately needed money for air traffic control, we can get it built quickly and efficiently. It will be the best system anywhere in the world," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, noting that much of the current network is 50 years old.

He argued that work has already begun but must be completed "all at once, not in drips and drabs," blaming the previous administration of former US President Joe Biden for mismanaging funds and setting modernization efforts back by years.

The appeal follows a Friday ground stop issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the agency regulating US civil aviation, which halted nearly all departing flights for hours after communications and radar systems experienced intermittent failures.

Officials traced the breakdown to routine maintenance by contractor L3Harris at a remote facility, where a newly installed router overloaded parts of the network during work to replace aging copper telecommunications lines with fiber-optic connections.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that the failed legacy equipment will continue breaking down without a "complete overhaul of the system," which he estimated will cost roughly $50 billion.

While FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford noted the agency has received $12.5 billion for modernization, Duffy indicated that he will submit a broader funding request to Congress on Monday.