In NBAA News Hour, FAA’s Rocheleau Details Progress Made in Modernizing ATC

Feb. 19, 2026

FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau discussed the sweeping changes underway at the agency, including its historic investment in modernizing the nation’s air traffic control (ATC) system, in a Feb. 18 NBAA News Hour conversation with association President and CEO Ed Bolen.

Rocheleau highlighted the noteworthy progress already being made in the work to build what the FAA has dubbed a brand-new air traffic control system, including the purchase of 600 advanced radar systems and swift replacement of the old copper wiring connecting ATC equipment and facilities.

“You can’t take an analog system and put it to digital until you have fiber optics,” Rocheleau said. “We have spent money, time and talent to accelerate that effort. By the end of this month, I think we’ll be close to 50% of what we wanted to accomplish in terms of changing that copper to fiber.”

To fund these and other aspects of the FAA’s ATC overhaul, Congress last year appropriated an initial $12.5 billion in funding as a downpayment on the work. In December, the agency selected Peraton as prime integrator for that project, with the goal of complete implementation of new ATC systems and infrastructure by December 2028, a task expected to total $30 billion.

Rocheleau noted that ATC modernization is only one of several strategic initiatives underway at the FAA. Last month, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford announced, “Flight Plan 2026,” a complete reenvisioning of the agency’s organizational structure to increase operational efficiency, foster innovation and advance U.S. aviation leadership.

“The administrator’s goal is to focus on those things we want to accomplish in the next 1-3 years,” Rocheleau said. “It wasn’t a 20-year plan, or a 30-year plan. It was, ‘what are we going to do, to really move the ball down the field as quickly as possible, as safely as possible?’”

One key aim as part of the reorganization, he noted, is to drive adoption of future technologies, such as advanced air mobility, drone integration, supersonic flight and commercial space. “We didn’t want to make progress in those fields personality-dependent,” Rocheleau said. “We want those organizations to have direct contact with senior leadership in the agency to advance their portfolios.”

While these discussions aren’t new, the January 2025 midair collision of a U.S. Army helicopter with a regional airliner near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Washington, DC served as “a rallying point” to implement changes where the FAA’s former “NextGen” planning fell short.

Rocheleau said one revelation in the accident’s aftermath was the appreciable lack of communication between different FAA departments, or with other branches of government – a concern the agency reorganization is designed to remedy head-on.

“We want integration,” he emphasized. “We want to be proactive in reducing accidents and, at some point with the tools coming online, we will even want to be predictive. Part of this effort is making the agency a leaner, more effective, efficient organization.”