I’ve been trying to make sense of the Daniels testimony, and after reading through it, I think there’s more going on here than just a bloated price tag.
The $508 million figure, $154 million for research and $354 million for replacement, actually came from NATCA President Nick Daniels. It wasn’t pitched as a padded contractor number. It was his estimate for what it would take to modernize the NOTAM system after the 2023 failure.
Daniels pointed out that the system’s collapse in January 2023 forced a nationwide ground stop, and that only after that happened did the FAA start treating NOTAMs as a top funding priority. He framed it as part of a bigger issue. The FAA has been stuck in a cycle of underfunding until something breaks.
As for the $154 million in “research,” it’s not just reading documents, at least I don’t think so. It includes the engineering work needed to rebuild a system that integrates with ATC, dispatch, pilot tools, military operations, and international feeds, all while running nonstop. The $354 million replacement number includes rollout, hardware, software, testing, and the full update to this century’s technology.
Daniels also made the case that the FAA’s broader Facilities and Equipment funding has been running two to three billion dollars behind what’s actually needed for years. They’ve been stuck in a patch and pray model, and the NOTAM system is just one example.
So yes, I agree, $508 million is a big ask. But from Daniels’ side, it’s what it will take to avoid another full system failure. He wasn’t throwing around red flags about fraud or waste. He seemed more focused on finally getting the funding in place before the next breakdown.
That said, I still think a clear itemized breakdown would help everyone feel more confident about the numbers. But based on what Daniels laid out, I don’t think this is about crooks. I think it’s about long overdue investment in systems we all rely on.