NORFOLK, Va. — Major government officials do not visit Hampton Roads every day, but on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy toured Norfolk International Airport alongside Congresswoman Jen Kiggans.
The visit focused heavily on the state of the nation’s air traffic control system, including staffing shortages and aging equipment at airports like ORF.
“It’s important for me to go out and see how things are going. How the waterfall of equipment is coming,” Duffy said during the visit.
Air traffic control has faced staffing pressures and concerns over outdated technology in recent years. Duffy said the federal government is working to modernize air traffic control towers across the country, including the tower at Norfolk International Airport.
“We have really old equipment. We use floppy disks. Oftentimes this tower uses floppy disks. Oftentimes they have to get spare parts to make their equipment work,” Duffy said.
Duffy tells News 3 that by the end of 2028, $27.3 million will be invested at Norfolk International Airport to upgrade its air traffic control infrastructure. The improvements are expected to include new radios, controller displays and radar equipment.
But equipment is only part of the challenge. Staffing remains a significant concern.
“In your tower, I think you have 17 controllers. You need 32, so you’re understaffed, right? So that means the controllers have to work overtime,” Duffy said.
To help address the nationwide shortage, the Department of Transportation has also turned to an unconventional recruiting strategy: gamers.
Duffy highlighted the agency’s Gamer Recruitment Program, which is designed to attract people with gaming backgrounds to careers in air traffic control.
“When we talk to new controllers, or people in our academies, there’s one constant theme: they’re all gamers,” Duffy said. “Everyone is a gamer, and as we thought about it, it made sense because they’re critical thinkers, they’re problem solving, they’re doing multiple things at the same time.”
Duffy said the skills people develop while gaming can translate into air traffic control.
“What they might have done in the basement of their home actually is a training platform to be an air traffic controller,” he said.
According to Duffy, the recruitment campaign has already helped bring more than 2,000 people into the air traffic control pipeline.
Kiggans, who represents Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, said continued growth at Norfolk International Airport remains important to the region, particularly because of Hampton Roads’ significant military presence.
“Aviation safety is national security for us here in Hampton Roads,” Kiggans said.
She pointed to the airport’s proximity to military installations and the large amount of military aviation activity conducted throughout the region.
“The proximity of our airport and our ATC tower, especially to where our bases are. We have Chambers Field surrounding, we have Naval Air Station Oceana, our East Coast master jet base. The amount of aviation that the military conducts, the exercises and missions that are from this distance, it’s important to me for that reason alone,” Kiggans said.
The conversation also turned to air travel costs as the holiday travel season approaches. Duffy said one of his concerns is the price and availability of jet fuel, particularly amid the conflict involving Iran.
“What I’m concerned about is fuel prices, jet fuel prices, making sure we’ve had enough supply during the conflict with Iran, and we’ve seen the price per barrel come down recently,” Duffy said. “So on that part, we’re making progress. But again, we see during Christmas high travel demand, and we see prices go up. I have 9 kids so I feel your pain. I'm not just paying for myself I'm paying for my kids as well.”
The visit comes as Norfolk International Airport continues to play an important role in connecting Hampton Roads to destinations across the country and beyond, while federal officials work to address the broader challenges.
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