Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy flatly rejected the idea that Elon Musk’s Starlink is the key to fixing FAA’s struggling air traffic control system.
Duffy delivered the slap down of the tech billionaire's satellite internet network while speaking to Fox News on Tuesday about air traffic control shortages and other issues plaguing the agency following a series of deadly aviation disasters in the opening weeks of 2025.
“Elon Musk has hinted that Starlink is the solution – is that?” Fox News host Sandra Smith asked Duffy, to which Duffy bluntly responded: “It's not.”
The answer seemed to take Smith by surprise. “It’s not?” she repeated.
“So, so, no, it’s part of a solution,” Duffy said, adding that accessing fiber wire in certain remote terminals in Alaska proved difficult.
“There are some facilities that Starlink can be helpful,” he said. “But again, we want to make sure we have fiber-connected systems in place. So, they can play some part in it, but not all of it.”
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The transportation secretary told viewers that engineers have been sent to assist in government efforts to upgrade the air traffic control system by not only Musk's SpaceX, but “other great companies.”
“We have to move at the speed of business not the speed of government,” he said.
Duffy acknowledged that while Americans want “the best air traffic control system in the world,” he said “we’re not there yet.”
“But we can get there if we have the help of the private sector, and the Congress gives us the money."
Musk suggested that Starlink should replace Verizon to upgrade the FAA’s communications system, according to media reports.
Watch the clip below or at this link:
FOX: Elon Musk has hinted that Starlink is the solution DUFFY: It's not. We want to make sure we have fiber-connected systems in place.
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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 4, 2025 at 12:52 PM