In a series of posts to X on Thursday, Elon Musk said the U.S. air traffic control system "is breaking down very rapidly," and that a "total overhaul" of the system is needed.
"The FAA assessment is single digit months to catastrophic failure, putting air traveler safety at serious risk," Musk wrote. “The situation is extremely dire.”
Musk had initially posted that Verizon made the antiquated current system but then posted: "Correction: the ancient system that is rapidly declining in capability was made (by) L3Harris. The new system that is not yet operational is from Verizon."
On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that the FAA was close to canceling a $2.4 billion, 15-year contract awarded to Verizon by the Biden-Harris administration in 2023 to overhaul the system, and awarding the work to Musk's SpaceX, which Starlink is a part of.
The FAA said it has not made any decision on the contract.
The FAA said this week it is testing three Starlink terminals at a government facility in Alaska to address concerns about reliable weather information for the aviation community in that state.
Musk wrote on X: "The Starlink terminals are being sent at NO COST to the taxpayer on an emergency basis to restore air traffic control connectivity."
Air traffic safety has been a focus of the public in recent weeks due to a series of crashes involving commercial airliners, including the fatal crash of a military helicopter and a regional jet on final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, a fatal crash that killed all 10 people aboard a small jet in Alaska, a Delta regional airline flight that flipped over and burst into flames upon landing in Toronto, and a near collision on the runway of Midway Airport between a Southwest Airlines jet that had to abort a landing when a private jet improperly crossed in front of it.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Musk indicated he was going to help the FAA “remake our airspace” and “do it quickly.”
To be clear here, the Verizon communication system to air traffic control is breaking down very rapidly. The FAA assessment is single digit months to catastrophic failure, putting air traveler safety at serious risk.
The Starlink terminals are being sent at NO COST to the… https://t.co/B3XOFZerJB — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 27, 2025
Timely: Defund Fake News
