Federal Aviation Administration chief Bryan Bedford said in a report Friday that he plans to improve the United States air traffic control system and is seeking another $10 billion from Congress to help with the process.

The FAA administrator said the agency, which has already received $12.5 billion from Congress, is spending billions to replace outdated air traffic control telecom infrastructure and radar surveillance systems, according to Reuters.

Bedford highlighted how outdated and neglected the air traffic control system is, but said he has plans to overhaul flight scheduling in September through the use of artificial intelligence to improve flight management.

"We're behind 20 years. The system is extremely safe, but it comes at the ​price of inefficiency and inconvenience," Bedford said. "Americans tolerate this hugely inefficient system... ⁠And as long as it's safe, I think that sort of saps the will to fix it."

The administrator said his agency would use AI to coordinate flight schedules and trajectories before departures, thereby significantly reducing delays and congestion at airports.

The FAA is also shrinking radar and telecom modernization to a ​three-year timeline instead of 15 years, and has already replaced 57% of its copper infrastructure.

Bedford additionally said another big change will take place next year, when the FAA will move air traffic control communication from analog to digital and will eventually shift all 313 facilities from running on individual computers to the cloud.

Airlines and aviation groups are also urging Congress to approve additional funding.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.