On April 28, 2025, something extraordinary happened in aviation.

Competitors became collaborators. Labor and industry spoke with one voice. Manufacturers, airlines, airports and aviation advocates aligned around a shared truth: the United States cannot lead the future of flight with an air traffic control (ATC) system built for the past.

That day, we launched the Modern Skies Coalition—not as another industry initiative, but as a call to action. A call grounded in urgency, unity and the belief that when we come together with purpose, we can achieve what once felt out of reach.

For decades, many of us have raised concerns about the state of our nation’s ATC system. It is a system that, remarkably, still relies in some places on floppy disks, copper wires and paper flight strips—tools that belong in a museum, not at the center of the world’s most complex and busiest airspace. At the same time, chronic staffing shortages have stretched our air traffic controllers thin, placing additional strain on an already aging system.

These are not abstract challenges. They affect the efficiency and resilience of air travel for millions of passengers every single day.

Yet for too long, these warnings were acknowledged without being addressed at the required scale.

The Modern Skies Coalition changed that.

Bringing together more than 50 organizations across industry, labor and manufacturing, we created something aviation has not seen before: a united front where long-standing competitors set aside differences in service of a shared mission. We understood that modernizing our ATC system is not a partisan issue or a competitive advantage, it is a nationwide imperative.

Through a strategic, multi-pronged campaign, we translated technical challenges into compelling narratives that resonated beyond aviation circles. One of our most effective tools was a simple but powerful 30-second advertisement, completed with 1980s music and imagery, that highlighted the outdated technologies still in use across our nation’s ATC towers.

At the same time, we amplified our message across platforms, through paid and organic social media, stakeholder engagement and direct outreach to policymakers. We ensured that the urgency of modernization was not just understood, but impossible to ignore.

The result was a defining milestone: securing an initial $12.5 billion federal investment to begin upgrading the U.S. air traffic control system.

This was not just a funding win. It was proof that alignment works, that when diverse stakeholders speak with one voice, policymakers listen. It was validation that the aviation community, when united, can drive meaningful, large-scale change.

But while we are proud of what we achieved, we are even more focused on what comes next.

Because this is where the real work begins.

With the Federal Aviation Administration’s selection of Peraton to lead the nationwide overhaul of our ATC infrastructure, modernization is no longer a distant goal, it is an active, ongoing effort. Critical projects are already underway, spanning communications, surveillance and automation systems. New radar capabilities, upgraded radio systems and advanced technologies are already being deployed at airports across the country.

Modernizing our skies is not a one-time investment; it is a long-term transformation. It means building a system that can safely and efficiently accommodate record travel demand today while preparing for the innovations of tomorrow.

It also means investing in the people who make this system work. Technology alone cannot solve our challenges. We must continue to address staffing shortages, support workforce development and ensure that the next generation of air traffic controllers is equipped to manage a modernized system.

That commitment must also extend to ensuring stability for the aviation professionals who keep our system running. During the recent government shutdowns, the coalition supported legislative solutions aimed at protecting federal aviation essential workers from the impacts of funding lapses. We backed the House’s Aviation Funding Solvency Act (H.R. 6086) and the Senate’s Aviation Funding Stability Act (S. 1045), recognizing that the thousands of air traffic controllers, technicians, safety inspectors and certification personnel who keep our skies safe and our economy moving should not have their livelihoods disrupted by Washington’s gridlock.

As we look ahead, I am optimistic because we have already demonstrated what is possible when we come together with purpose. The stakes are too high to lose momentum now.

I am proud to stand alongside the many leaders who make up the Modern Skies Coalition and have made this progress possible. And I am confident that, together, we will continue to move forward.

The future of flight depends on it.

And thanks to a united coalition, that future is within reach.