Alaska Air Group calls for comprehensive U.S. ATC overhaul, warns ATC tech is lagging aircraft capabilities

Alaska Air Group — parent of Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Horizon Air — said in a 26 September report that U.S. air traffic control must be comprehensively overhauled, warning that decades‑old ATC systems are developing more slowly than aircraft technology and creating long‑term operational risks.

Discovered 2025-09-29T17:35:20.185890-07:00 | 2025-09-29T17:35:20.185890-07:00

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The report highlights a growing capability gap between modern aircraft systems and national ATC infrastructure, a trend documented in recent coverage of the U.S. ATC system crisis: https://hype.aero/?story=28c30569-5f82-4be0-ba9b-1e483d9d1dfc
Alaska Air Group’s recommendations arrive while the FAA advances procurement and modernization steps — including a Request for Solutions and narrowing candidates for a prime integrator — signalling immediate policy and program relevance: https://hype.aero/?story=f8ade5c5-9798-49c7-80f2-821d60f01161 and https://hype.aero/?story=d4f83a4e-3bc9-455c-895b-9d0fd72cb447
The timing coincides with agency efforts to accelerate specific flow‑control capabilities through a launched challenge, underscoring potential alignment or tension between industry needs and FAA delivery timelines: https://hype.aero/?story=f29ee04e-bab0-42d6-8970-3b9142d9bed0

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