The incoming Trump administration will add an agency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE.) Air Traffic Control software could provide an easy win.
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Ignoring Politics For A Moment
This post is not a political one. When the current Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, was appointed both Matthew and I wrote open letters and encouraged him to make real change that was good for all Americans regardless 0f political affiliation. We applauded the wins and called out the losses. Regardless of the side of the aisle you find yourself on, according to a Trump announcement, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will run the newly created Department of Government Efficiency and we wish the same success to them that we did the Secretary and former leaders. Evaluate this concept as a stand alone issue and suspend your political beliefs for just a few moments; let’s just be flyers.
What Is DOGE?
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is a newly proposed federal agency with its sole goal to eliminate government waste. President-elect, Donald Trump, said the new agency will reside under the Office of Management and Budgets:
“Trump said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
Trump said the new department will realize long-held Republican dreams and “provide advice and guidance from outside of government,” signaling the Musk and Ramaswamy roles would be informal, without requiring Senate approval and allowing Musk to remain the head of electric car company Tesla, social media platform X and rocket company SpaceX.” – Reuters
Air Traffic Control Software
There’s air traffic control (ATC) software functioning in a limited rollout that has the capability of communicating via text messages between the aircraft and ground systems and automating processes. Wikipedia puts it more eloquently:
“Controller–pilot data link communication (CPDLC) is a means of communication between controller and pilot, using data link for ATC communication. At the highest level, the concept is simple, with the emphasis on the continued involvement of the human at either end and the flexibility of use.
The CPDLC application provides air-ground data communication for the ATC service. This includes a set of clearance/information/request message elements which correspond to voice phraseology employed by air traffic control procedures.” – Wikipedia.
But it’s more than just communication. Here are some of the capabilities of CPDLC:
- Trajectory-based operations
- Continuous descent approaches
- Dynamic weather reroutes
- Climbs
- Descents
- Handoffs between ATC sectors
This system has been introduced in some important markets but is only slated for part time use in the most congested market in the country, New York, as well as the Boston and farther northeast area. The system has been said to reduce frequency voice traffic by as much as 75% which reduces the load on Air Traffic Controllers and pilots.
Updating the nation’s communications system and modernizing it could cost several hundred million dollars, and this is expending money rather than saving it. However, repairs on aging infrastructure critical to the American economy could be a place where investment is needed and there’s a financial benefit that likely exceeds the costs.
Continuous Descent Approaches
In addition to reduced down time and repair costs, there’s a very large piece that needs to be considered: continuous descent approaches. Hundreds of thousands of flights annually are flown on behalf of US government officials, cargo, and by the government itself. Traditional descent approaches involve stepping down to altitudes and then leveling off before the next descent and level. That process is far less efficient than gliding down from cruise which should reduce thrust and gradually slow not re-engaging the engines in a meaningful way until closer to the ground.
What’s Not To Like?
Rolling out the CDPLC to every flight, every approach, and leaving controllers to act as managers won’t initially reduce the need for controllers but could potentially over time. That career field is short staffed as it is, but reducing the workload to just key tasks could also attract more workers uninterested in the stress and demands of the job.
But ideally, if the system is fully implemented, the US government upgrades the system for all aircraft in order to save money on its own fuel and staff. It would reduce emissions for the last 30 minutes of every flight in the largest air market in the world. The reduction in fuel could have some deflationary effect on fuel prices (not much but something.)
Government fuel consumption solely in the United States (where the system could be implemented) is a difficult number to find. The Department of Defense uses about 4.6 bn gallons annually with $11.5 bn spent on Jet-A last year globally. A fraction of DoD fuel consumption would be in the United States, and a still smaller fraction would be saved with this model. But there are other government entities that burn jet fuel like the USPS, State Department, etc. These are also just one year numbers so over just a four-year span, the savings would likely outweigh the costs for the government alone.
Fuel consumption could be reduced significantly for short flights.
Conclusion
This is an opportunity for DOGE to make a lasting investment that reduces emissions, costs, stress, and also modernizes ATC systems for decades to come. It’s already tested and approved working in some markets throughout North American and Europe. As the agency looks for costs to cut, this is an easy win that benefits taxpayers, visitors, companies, and the environment.
What do you think? What travel systems or costs can DOGE improve?
CPDLC is a great tool and needs to be implemented ASAP in the USA. However, not every airliner is capable of it. I don’t know any regional airliners that are CPDLC capable. So it would be an improvement but nothing radical. Also it is only useful for high altitude en route operations. Tower, GND, approach, departure are not and will not use CPDLC. ATC is such an easy fix for any administration they desperately need more $ and workers. Brutally overworked and under paid at the moment.
@Mike – Agreed, and they should get the help they need on the ground.
So , the elimination of federal waste might require a New government agency .
So , a New government agency with New bureaucrats , New regulations , and New expenses will eliminate how much federal waste ?
Give me a break .
The only way to eliminate government waste would be for the government to go bankrupt .
DOGE is supposed to be a no cost non-agency. Staff are unpaid as well as Musk.
Buttigieg has a great image but did practically nothing. Trump’s people have a terrible image but this article suggests there is hope.
Staff will not work for free . If they take staff from other agencies , it would mean they are superfluous to the other agencies .
Actually, he did more than I can recall in my lifetime, and I am older than Kyle or Matthew. The US has virtually no passenger rights. When I am in the UK or EU, I have rights. For example, if my train is 15 minutes late I hit a button and I get a portion of a refund. I sometimes don’t even have to ask. Last summer, I was proactively sent an email apology for a late arrival. We have no real protections unless we are flying to or from other countries, and sometimes not even then. At least Buttigieg worked on enacting some rights for us–and managed to have a presence. He could not do as much as he even tried, and I agree that Congress “tied his hands” on some areas. I actually did not like him one iota when he was first there. I paid no attention. But when I saw him do something, and when I saw he gave a rip about passenger rights and holding airlines accountable, fighting junk fees, etc. I was grateful he was working on something. I really hate that now even that work will fade.
There is no way this divided country won’t make it ALL political. Period. We can’t even post comments on a blog without that. Frankly, Matthew cannot even write a post that has anything related to Israel or Palestine without going there… It is tragic that we cannot have things like Transportation be apolitical, but when people like Ramaswamy say in a debate that climate change is not real, we know that will also play in.
And trains? Well, Amtrak still is subject to whatever cargo trains do first; cargo is priority here in our land. But God bless Brightline. May is bloom and grow.
They lost me when I read that they need two people to run the Office of Efficiency.
@Damini – But for free. Also of note, they both run at least one company, in the case of Musk, he of course runs or chairs five (SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and X) with significant investments in others. They are going to need two people to be effective.
@Damini … +1 . Droll comment is excellent .
So , if they had four people , would it be even more efficient ?
The E in doge should be for effectiveness not so much efficiency. We need positive results.
If the CDPLC is such a win-win, maybe Mayor Pete should have been using the billions he gave to Cali’s high speed rail (HSR) project to instead start full implementation of this system. But, politics overrides priorities sometimes. As a SoCal resident, I am hoping we will see the completion of yet another bridge for the HSR in the Central Valley at some point, to go with the first one which cost billions of dollars.
@DavidM … +1 . Droll comment is excellent .
@DavidM – That boondoggle seems like something Musk could probably have done cheaper and on-time but it’s all speculation. There’s also $24bn that Gov. Newsom has spent to solve the homelessness crisis since 2019 but despite fewer residents, homelessness actually increased during the period about 20%, and according to the Hoover Institute, per unit build costs are about $1MM. That said, the second issue is a state-level problem and I am not sure how much of the high-speed train is federal. Sadly, DOGE may be entirely ineffective on that project.
https://www.hoover.org/research/despite-california-spending-24-billion-it-2019-homelessness-increased-what-happened
Make the govt more efficient. Has to be one of the easiest jobs!
…but as they noted, Gonna make a lot of people throw pity parties
Make the Government more efficient by starting a new Government agency that makes the government more efficient. Oh, the irony.
@Antwerp … +1 . And the inevitable result of another agency will be to make government less efficient , no ?
@Alert – One could argue that while not free, the GAO does shed light on inefficiencies or at least major accounting lapses. If there was an action component to its findings, it might look something like what DOGE is endeavoring to achieve.
@Kyle … Last I looked , the GAO needs some efficiency itself .
@Antwerp – They are doing it without taking a paycheck and while I don’t know Ramaswamy’s leadership experience, Musk revolutionized electric vehicles, while building self-landing rockets at least 97.5% cheaper AND reusable, and before that he made making payments online a possibility when he and Peter Thiel merged to form PayPal. He also reduced his workforce by 80% at Twitter/X with no discernible loss in technical performance. That’s a hell of a resume.
Elon and Vivic. You go guys! Think you will do a great job!
To keep this comment travel-related, I hope they gut the TSA
@Jan – Hear, hear! From your keyboard to their ears.
@Kyle … the redundant employees removed from the other agencies will all be transferred to TSA .
Yea let’s go back to private airport security. Worked so well last time! Only 3k people died In one day
To be clear, this won’t be an Agency or Department. You need enabling legislation to create one. This will be an Advisory Committee, which the president has authority to establish. As such, it will not have direct legal authority to do, on its own, pretty much anything that they have said they will do.
Interesting, I wonder what the plan is.
@Kyle … The details of the plan will take a loooong time to work out . Four years ?
Musk couldn’t manage his way out of a paper bag without help. But yes, let’s increase efficiency by putting 2 people in charge.
Is that what the failed baristas at Bluesky or Reddit are saying?
Spot on. It’s like a cut-and-paste from r/politics 🙂
I will add that the real problem facing ATC in the USA is a lack of controllers. They need to update these systems, but they also need to hire hundreds, if not thousands, of additional controllers. The FAA has failed to keep up staffing and it is getting worse by the year.
Perhaps the real problem is too many flights ?
As a controller, I can promise you the main issue is less controllers, although traffic levels increasing rapidly is a factor as well. We’re as busy as we’ve ever been, yet are as short staffed as we’ve ever been. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that’s a recipe for disaster.
the problem is is that this technology only works well when its clear blue and 72. once you have weather, congestion, emergencies and holding the system goes to hell. That’s why you want controllers who can consistently do the job and not just be able to manage. People on the outside have no idea how many out of the ordinary circumstances we deal with every shift to where these systems don’t really work. change of frequencies is cool, I prefer to verbally give altitudes and directs so I know when exactly the get that info.but other than that I don’t have 2 much use for data link
To the lady who said EU is better at refunds for delays. We are new to this, but that wasn’t our experience with Lufthansa this past summer. We flew straight to Frankfurt from Dallas. Then caught our connecting flight to Budapest. We were in the air a bit and had to turn around to come back to Frankfurt It was the day of Crowdstrike, but we supposedly weren’t affected. One passaenger, not sure if true, said smoke was in the cock pit and we had to fly back. Long story short we disembarked back at Frankfurt told we would either have to rebook another flight, but Lufthansa was trying to get us a plane. After many hours in Frankfurt with absolutely no messages from Lufthansa on whether or not they replaced the plane standing in the long customer service line hoping to get some answers to rebook. Through passenger voice grapevine we were told there was a plane replacement after many hours going to Budapest and our tickets were still good. We had to run to the gate because we were told it was leaving in minutes. It was chaos at the gate. Not what I expected from Germans normally efficient when I worked for in Germany many years ago. Disappointed to say the least! We did take off but didn’t have our paid assigned seats. We chose aisle seats but my husband and I were separated in middle seats. How does that happen? We were to arrive at 2 something and arrived at 8 something. We filled to get compensation, but Lufthansa denied it. The Hungarian father who sat next to me said to make sure to file. I guess you have to fly a lot to understand the system as to know what to do. So I am NOT impressed by Europe’s passenger rights at ALL. Are we flying Lufthansa the next time. NOPE! At this point in our trip we were tired and ready to get to our hotel to get ready to board our river boat cruise up the Danube. We had many boat passengers that missed the boat for 2 days because of Crowdstrikes mistakes on that day. We were just grateful to be on board the boat for the whole trip.