On Monday, a fiber-optic cable accidentally cut by transit contractors in New Jersey caused major flight disruptions on the East Coast, with JFK and LaGuardia airports affected and ground stops being called for at Philadelphia and Newark.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday that we’re going to see more messes like this unless Congress gets its act together and provides the funding needed to fully modernize our aging infrastructure.

“The problem I have is I don't have the money to do all the things that I need to do that America expects me to do, to make sure this crap never happens again.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warns that widespread flight delays will continue until Congress provides critical funding to modernize America's aging air traffic control system.

This comes as a communications equipment failure at an FAA air traffic control facility triggered ground stops at Newark, Philadelphia, New York, and other Northeast airports, causing widespread flight delays and cancellations while officials worked to restore service.

"This will not be the last time... Give us the money to fix everything in the system."

Duffy has repeatedly said the $12.5 billion provided by the One Big Beautiful Bill was just a "down payment" on what needs to be a much bigger effort to get back to the future.

As DOGE uncovered, the federal government apparently had enough money to fund $2 million for sex-change procedures and LGBT activism in Guatemala, $20 million for a Sesame Street-style program in Iraq, and $1.5 million to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in Serbian workplaces. Meanwhile, they funnel hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to states like Minneapolis and California, only to see it promptly get ripped off by fraudsters.

Yet we can’t allocate enough cash to upgrade our all-important air transportation network? Make it make sense.

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Meanwhile, the secretary announced Monday that an artificial intelligence-powered system will make its debut in the Washington, D.C. area. While the system won’t replace humans, it will help controllers make quicker and better decisions, according to the Federal Aviation Administration:

For months, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has touted the tool as a solution for the FAA’s air traffic control woes. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters Monday that the Strategic Management of Airspace Routing Trajectories system, or SMART, would give controllers “much better decision-making capabilities.”

Bedford and Duffy also reiterated Monday that the tech will not replace air traffic controllers.

“There is a lot of conversation about AI and who is controlling the airspace,” Duffy said during a press conference marking the SMART launch, which will be used at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Dulles International Airport and Baltimore/Washington International Airport. “It’s always going to be a human that manages the airspace in America.”

As the Monday incident showed, the air traffic situation in the U.S. is remarkably fragile, and one thing going wrong can lead to delays across the country. Unless the government adapts and upgrades, you’re likely to continue to experience frustration at the airport.

While there’s been plenty of fearmongering going on lately about the existential threat posed by AI, it’s obviously a technology that could be plenty useful in helping manage the myriad complex issues that are just another day in the life of a busy international airport.

I’m very interested to see how SMART works out.