Homeland Security Dem says he still 'hasn’t been briefed' on FAA ground stop

James Walkinshaw of Virginia. He's a member of the House Homeland. Security Committee and Congressman, have you been briefed on this and what can you. tell us? I haven't been briefed on it. I'm learning with the rest of the country. and with you all. It's obviously shocking, disrupting from an economic. perspective, very concerning from a safety perspective. And we need to get to the bottom. of it as soon as possible, understand how this could have happened. So nothing from the administration to. your committee yet? No. That's amazing three hours after the fact here. Three hours after the fact. We were chatting as you came.

on set about this September 14th. Government Accountability Office report. that talks specifically. about the modernization issues. as it relates to the Federal. Aviation Administration, FAA. I want to read a bit from this report. Air Traffic Control System's ambitious. new modernization effort needs to. improve costs and schedule planning. Quote, While accelerating this modernization is. critical, GAO's decades-long bodies of work. on acquisitions. and FAA modernizations indicate.

that these risks increase the likelihood. of FAA repeating its history of cost overruns, delays and unmet performance targets. If these risks are realized, FAA would need to continue to rely. on severely outdated systems. that are prone to failure, leading to more flight delays. and safety incidents. Now, this particular study was. in regards to the brand new air traffic control. in the U .S., N -A-T-C-S, an ambitious goal. that aims to modernize communication.

surveillance also weather. and training systems among other things. You're very familiar with this report I'm told. Tell us what I'm talking about. This is something the Oversight. Committee has been tracking, the requests came from members. of the Oversight Committee. It's important to note the modernization. of the air traffic control system didn't. start with this Trump administration. I mean it dates back to the Obama. THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS. DONE IS ACCELERATED OR TRIED TO. ACCELERATE THAT MODERNIZATION. WHAT THIS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS DONE IS.

that they're rushing the project specifically. they are rushing the transition. of the telecommunication system so literally. they're pulling out those old copper wires. that are 60 70 years old and replacing it. with modernized telecommunications. infrastructure and that is a very tricky thing. to do you got to get it right you can't take. out the old one offline before the new one is. up and running and safe to operate. and the GAO highlighted.

that a the rushing be they know never developed. an integrated schedule to ensure. that they were doing things in the right order. in a coordinated way now is that the cause. of today's ground stoppage we don't. know but it is a serious safety. and operational risk that was identified months. ago in congressman secretary duffy did issue. a tweet initially saying that this was something. that it was impacting air route traffic control.

centers you had then senate commerce. republicans post a post on x. in response to secretary duffy saying. that no new air traffic control center actually. has been built since lbj was in office. and that was why their chairman senator ted. cruz had gotten 1 .9 billion dollar. into the working families tax cut to replace. and consolidate THEY'RE OUTDATED, OUTDATED. CONTROL CENTERS. HOW DO YOU SQUARE THE CONTROL. CENTER ISSUE WITH THE MODERNIZATION ISSUE?

I MEAN, THOSE SEEM TO BE THERE WERE TWO. SEPARATE PROBLEMS, RIGHT? I DO THINK THOSE ARE TWO SEPARATE ISSUES RELATED. WE NEED TO MODERNIZE THE CONTROL. CENTERS AS WELL. UNTIL RECENTLY THERE THERE WERE CONTROL CENTERS. WHERE CONTROLLERS WERE USING PAPER SLIPS TO. MANAGE THE AIRSPACE IN THE AIRPORT. SO THAT MODERNIZATION NEEDS TO HAPPEN. BUT THERE'S A MORE KIND OF FUNDAMENTAL. MODERNIZATION OF THE BROADER NETWORK. communications and infrastructure. that I think is more likely the issue here. Just a reset for everybody, we have over 4 ,400 flights.

now grounded. per MS now in the continental United States. at the moment no understanding or word. of when that situation will get better so. if your loved ones are stranded we have. no information about when they will get. home exactly at this moment the system. is still undergoing what it's undergoing, for lack of better words. Congressman, I want to ask you about. this smart system, which is strategic management.

of airspace routing TRAJECTORIES. THIS IS AN A .I. SYSTEM, I SPOKE TO A SOURCE TODAY THAT SAID, AGAIN, WE'RE SPECULATING HERE, WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY, BUT THIS IS SOMETHING. THAT THE ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN TRYING. TO PUT THAT WAS AN AI PRODUCT THAT. WOULD DEAL WITH THE FAA ROUTING AND WHAT NOT. ONE OF YOUR COLLEAGUES, IT'S APRIL MCLEAN DELANEY FROM MARYLAND. SHE SAID BACK IN SEPTEMBER ABOUT THIS, I'M CALLING ON THE FAA TO PAUSE THIS ROLLOUT, SHOW US THE SAFETY TESTING AND EXPLAIN WHO.

IS ACCOUNTABLE WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG, SO KIND OF GOING ALONG THAT LINE WHAT. YOU JUST SAID, THAT THERE'S. THIS RUSH, THIS RUSH TO GET THIS UP. AND GOING WHEN. PERHAPS THERE NEEDS TO BE A LITTLE BIT. OF A PAUSE ABOUT WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR. SOMETHING LIKE THIS RIGHT THE SMART SYSTEM IS AN. ACRONYM, I DON'T KNOW THE ACRONYM, STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF. AIRSPACE. ROUTING TRAJECTORIES. THE SMART SYSTEM IS BASICALLY AN AI-POWERED. ADVISORY SYSTEM FOR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL. SO IT'S BRINGING IN WEATHER PATTERNS,

ALL OF THE DIFFERENT FACTORS AND HELPING. CONTROLLERS TO MANAGE THEIR AIR SPACE. THEY ROLLED THAT OUT IN THE WASHINGTON, D .C. AIR SPACE WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST CROWDED AIR. SPACES IN THE COUNTRY, AND A LOT OF US IN THE REGION WERE. SHOCKED BY THAT DECISION. THE FAA ALSO ROLLED IT OUT WITHOUT. COORDINATING OR GETTING THE INPUT. OF THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL THEMSELVES, WHICH IS KIND OF A SHOCKING THING. THAT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING THE. WORK WHO MIGHT HAVE SOME THOUGHTS. AS TO WHETHER THIS SYSTEM IS A GOOD IDEA,

HOW IT COULD BE IMPROVED WEREN'T. CONSULTED IN A MEANINGFUL WAY. AGAIN, WE DON'T KNOW THAT THIS SYSTEM. IS CONNECTED TO THE GROUND STOPPAGE TODAY, BUT I THINK YOU HAVE A TROUBLING PATTERN. HERE OF RECKLESS BEHAVIOR FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, BUT I THINK YOU HAVE A TROUBLING PATTERN. FROM THIS FAA. WE ARE HOPING TO HEAR FROM THE ADMINISTRATION. MAYBE SOMETIME THIS HOUR. WHEN WE DO, OBVIOUSLY, WE WILL BRING IT TO FOLKS. LIVE. OUR COLLEAGUES, MANY OF THEM WERE LITERALLY. AT THE AIRPORTS.

THEMSELVES TODAY ON TRAVEL. THEY WERE TRYING TO GET HOME, GET BACK TO WORK. AND OUR COLLEAGUE MARK IS LITERALLY. IN THE AIRPORT IN JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA AND HE SPOKE TO A WOMAN, HER NAME IS DENISE, SHE'S A TRAVELER FROM JACKSONVILLE. GOING TO NEW YORK AND SHE TOLD MARK SANTIA. THAT IT'S THE LACK OF INFORMATION. THAT'S MOST FRUSTRATING. TAKE A LISTEN TO WHAT DENISE HAD TO SAY. MY BAGS IS THERE, MY MEDICATION THAT I NEED. IS THERE. I CAN'T EVEN GET MY BAG IF I WANT. to go home because they're not unloading baggage, so I just have to stay here and wait.

and see when I can get my luggage. When we were talking you were telling. me you weren't upset this happened, you're just frustrated you're not. getting information. No information. It said I ended. And I'm here in Jacksonville. But you were also saying if you had word, you could go back. You could go home because you don't live far. and then make a quick turn. But you don't know. I don't know. Yeah. Unknown is what it is. Because I live like 30 minutes. I could just go 30 minutes and come back. in the morning, but no information. No information. I will note you and Luke just talked.

about smart that that AI tool that was. recently implemented. The government contractor behind smart says. that the ground stop is not connected. to the tool. This is a statement that they posted. on the site formerly known as Twitter. The current ground stop is not based on. or result of the smart system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA. and ATC, so they are getting on the record. and being clear, that's some information for Denise, but I mean to the point. that Luke was making at the top here, there are travelers. in the airport that have very little.

to know information about what's going on. I think it's amazing, we're three, four hours into this and we haven't heard. from the president of the United States, not the vice president, and look, this is a kind of issue. that's. creating a lot of PEOPLE HAVE ANXIETY, RIGHT? PEOPLE HAVE LEGITIMATE FEARS. OF TERRORIST-RELATED, CYBERSECURITY RELATED. I DON'T THINK IT'S ENOUGH TO HEAR. FROM THE SECRETARY. I THINK PEOPLE DESERVE TO HEAR. FROM THE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES. TONIGHT ABOUT WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT.