An American Airline Airbus A319 plane takes off in front of the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginie, January 11, 2023
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty images
Elon Musk said Thursday that he was sending his internet terminals by Satellite Starlink to the Federal Aviation Administration while saying, without providing evidence, that current technology presents a risk to the safety of air trips.
The billionaire and the best advisor to President Donald Trump, who was responsible for reducing costs throughout the federal government, published the allegations on his social media platform, X.
Major Airlines’ leaders told CNBC on Thursday that they did not see any risks for traveling travel due to FAA technology.
The FAA, which regulates the company of Musk Spacex, did not immediately comment, but earlier this week, it tested Starlink Technology in Atlantic City, New Jersey and Alaska. The White House returned a request for comment to the FAA.
The FAA “is considering the use of Starlink since the previous administration to increase reliability on remote sites, including in Alaska,” the agency said on Monday. “This week, the FAA is testing a terminal in its establishment in Atlantic City and two terminals on non -security critical sites in Alaska.”
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the FAA was about to cancel a contract with Verizon for new communication technologies for air traffic control and give it instead of Musk’s Starlink.
Musk said Thursday on X: a “Verizon communication system with air traffic control is decomposed very quickly”. Verizon said in a press release that “FAA systems currently in place are managed by L3harris and not Verizon”. He then corrected and said L3harris was responsible for the “rapidly decreasing” system.
L3harris did not immediately return requesting comments.
Verizon said he was working on replacing older air traffic control technology.
“Our company is working on the construction of the FAA next generation system which will support the mission of the agency for safe and secure travel,” said Verizon in its press release. “We are at the start of a multi -year contract to replace archaic inherited systems. Our teams worked with the FAA technological teams and our solution is ready to be deployed. We continue to associate with FAA to achieve its modernization objectives.”
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Some democratic legislators have raised concerns about the role of Musk in the Trump administration while potentially working to provide technology to one of its regulators.
“Although I support efforts to modernize our air traffic control system and improve aviation safety, this decision raises concerns of conflicts of interest, given the double position of Elon Musk as head of the management of SpaceX and a large-scale role in the Trump administration,” Senator Ed Markey, D-Mass.
Others attracted alarms after the Trump administration dismissed hundreds of FAA employees, although they do not include air controllers.
“At a minimum, we must know why this sudden reduction was necessary, what type of work these employees did and what type of analysis faa carried out – if necessary – to ensure that this would not have a negative impact on security, increase the flight delays or harm FAA operations,” said senator Tammy Duckworth, D -ill., Wrote to Rocheleau on February 19.
The FAA said that it had kept the staff “who fulfills critical security functions. The FAA does not comment on the current certification work”.
Airlines for years have been pressure for the modernization of air traffic. Transporters have long complained about how older systems have not met the needs of industry, resulting in flight delays that cost both passengers and carriers. The request for plane trips hit the records after the pandemic.
“The carriers have made remarkable changes and significant investments in technologies, operations, products and people,” Airlines for America, which represents the main American carriers on Thursday. “The government must do the same in an organized and timely way.”
Musk’s comments on air -security failures, which did not include evidence, come after the deadly collision last month between a regional jet of American Airlines and a Black Hawk Army Black helicopter, killing the 67 people on the two planes. He ended an unprecedented period of safety of air travel in the United States, marking the first accident of the deadly airline in the country since 2009 and the deadliest since 2001.
Last week, more than a dozen groups of the aviation industry and unions, urged legislators to approve “emergency financing” for the modernization of air traffic control and the endowment.