PHOENIX — The U.S. Transportation Secretary is at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport Thursday to consider how some of the $12.5 billion dollars for air travel from the One Big Beautiful Bill could be used to improve operations. Secretary Sean Duffy spoke with ABC15 in an exclusive interview.
The future of air travel could be shaped by Phoenix Sky Harbor, according to Secretary Duffy, who took a tour of the airport.
“Phoenix is, as you know, a wildly expanding market. A lot of growth here, and so the airport is growing to meet the needs of the community,” Secretary Duffy said. "But also, something unique is happening in Phoenix at Sky Harbor. You have some of the better technology in all of our airports across the country. So I wanted to see what technology you currently have, but then also what upgrades you're going to need.”
Those upgrades would be paid for by funding secured for air traffic modernization through the One Big Beautiful Bill.
“What we've done is we've looked across the whole airspace, and realized a lot of it is so old,” Secretary Duffy said.
Secretary Duffy says like many airports, Phoenix has some decades-old gear, like radios from the 1980s, which all got replaced Thursday.
That updated tech aims to prevent problems like Newark Liberty International Airport experienced back in 2025, when that airport had to halt flights due to communications disruptions.
“That's a problem, right? So we're addressing all of these small issues that we have in aviation and modernizing it,” Secretary Duffy said.
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However, the Transportation Secretary says Sky Harbor also has some cutting-edge technology that will be rolled out nationwide over the next three years. He says during the airport tour, he spoke with air traffic controllers about the tech and their needs.
"We talked a lot about those paper flight strips that are used across the system. But in Phoenix, you have electronic air strips. We're trying to bring those to the rest of the country,” Secretary Duffy said.
The modernization plan for Sky Harbor also includes radar replacement, new surface movement radar to alert pilots if planes get too close, and a terminal voice switch for more reliable communication.
Secretary Duffy says the next phase is upgraded software, but that will require more funding to be passed by Congress.
For travelers, efficiency is top of mind.
"Safety is the most important thing. But the bottom line is, everybody cares about being on time,” Melanie Spellman of Cedar Rapids, IA, said.
Many feel timing can make or break a trip.
"We've had some flight delays today, which have been difficult,” Katie Griggs of Oklahoma City said.
Some hope these investments will mean smooth travel.
"If they can just continue to innovate to make it as safe and streamlined as possible,” Adam Levy of Denver said.
ABC15 asked Secretary Duffy if the upgrades will mean that travelers see concrete changes.
“Safety is number one. Our system is safe, it’s just really old. What happens ten years from now if we don't upgrade this system, as this equipment gets older?” Secretary Duffy said. “All of the technology we're going to deploy over the course of the next three years is going to be helpful in making sure that you have a hardened system, a better system.”
“They want less delays. They want less cancelations,” he continued. “So we think out for the next year, year-and-a-half, what can we deploy that will improve the efficiency of the airspace? Which, for the traveler here, means there's less delays and there's less cancelations.”
