Rep. Langworthy Blames Former Biden Administration for Air Traffic Control Crisis, Cites Misplaced Funding Priorities

The chair of the House Aviation Safety Caucus is criticizing the former Biden administration for what he describes as misguided funding priorities that have contributed to the ongoing crisis in US air traffic control systems, as per Fox News.

Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital that critical opportunities to modernize the nation’s aging air traffic infrastructure were overlooked in favor of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives included in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill.

“That was before I came to Congress, but you had mistaken priorities,” Langworthy said. “All this DEI policy, DEI staffing—that all got baked into the cake. They could have taken that money and spent it on real modernization of what is critical infrastructure in this country.”

Langworthy pointed to a recent series of aviation incidents, including a blackout at Newark Liberty International Airport that caused a 90-second outage in ATC screens, and a fatal collision earlier this year between a military helicopter and a commercial plane near Washington, D.C.

“We had the longest period of incident-free aviation in this country’s history,” Langworthy noted, referring to the stretch from a 2009 crash in Buffalo, N.Y., to recent events. “And what happened at Reagan [Airport] was avoidable.”

Although Langworthy acknowledged that DEI policies may not have directly impacted air traffic control staffing, he argued that infrastructure spending was directed away from critical needs.

“There are infrastructure projects—even in my backyard—where they want to bury a main artery just to reunite a community. That’s social engineering,” he said. “Aviation is infrastructure. It’s transportation. The money should have gone there.”

The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law signed by President Biden in 2021 did include $25 billion over five years for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with some allocated for modernization. But Langworthy and other Republican lawmakers say that was insufficient, and are now backing a new $12 billion ATC funding package as part of President Donald Trump’s proposed budget plan.

Langworthy has also been visiting air traffic control facilities in his upstate New York district, where, he says, the message from controllers is clear: they are understaffed and overworked.

“We need more bodies,” he said. “We should be promoting this career path to young people. It comes with a competitive salary, but it’s a high-stress job and we’ve taken it for granted too long.”

The congressman said he plans to work closely with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and President Trump to prioritize funding for air traffic control modernization.

“When Secretary Duffy and the president roll this out as a spending priority, we have to frontload this process,” Langworthy said. “Everyone’s lives hang in the balance on this.”