Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday he could not apologize for the decades-old air traffic control infrastructure that contributed to Friday’s nationwide ground stop, arguing that years of underinvestment by both political parties left the Trump administration with a system in need of major repairs.
Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Duffy defended the administration’s response to Friday’s disruption, which grounded flights across the country, and pushed back when asked whether he owed the American people an apology because the problems had occurred on his watch.
The news show’s moderator Kristen Welker noted that FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford had apologized to the American people during a news conference Saturday and asked Duffy whether he felt he owed an apology as transportation secretary.
“I can’t apologize for what was passed off to us,” Duffy responded. “And I can’t blame Republicans or Democrats because it’s all of them. It goes back, 20, 25, 30 years of a lack of investment.”
Duffy also said he was moving faster than previous administrations to address the problems at the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation, crediting President Donald Trump with securing $12.5 billion for aviation modernization through the One Big Beautiful Bill.
However, he argued that the funding was insufficient to complete the overhaul, saying Congress had restricted how the money could be spent and had not allocated enough for telecommunications and new software.
Duffy said the administration expected to spend the $12.5 billion by the end of 2028 but needed additional funding to build a more resilient telecommunications architecture and modernize the system’s software. He said the work could be completed by the end of 2028 or the beginning of 2029 if Congress provided the necessary resources.
Welker questioned why more action had not already been taken if the infrastructure problems were so pressing, particularly given that Republicans had controlled Congress for the previous two years.
Duffy responded that Trump had prioritized it since taking office.”The president, since he came to office, has been pushing for modernization of the air space. Before I was even sworn in, he brought this up,” he said.
The transportation secretary also defended Friday’s decision to ground flights, saying passenger safety took precedence over avoiding travel disruptions.
“I don’t apologize for shutting down the air space and keeping people safe,” Duffy said, adding that he would take similar action whenever he believed there were risks to passengers.
“There’s a small club of people who have family members who have died in aviation. I don’t want that club to grow,” he added.
