Who’s lobbying on the air traffic control rebuild: 99 third-quarter reports for 74 clients

By Miriam Tolliver

WASHINGTON — As the Transportation Department asks Congress for $30 billion more to finish replacing the nation’s air traffic control system, the lobbying around the project is crowded. In the third quarter of 2026, 74 lobbying firms and in-house lobbying shops filed 99 federal disclosure reports that mention “air traffic control,” according to an Inquisitor review of the Senate and House Lobbying Disclosure Act database.

The reports were filed for 74 distinct clients. They include the FAA’s prime integrator, Peraton; defense and technology contractors such as RTX, Leidos, SAIC and Palantir; the largest U.S. airlines; airport groups; and the union that represents controllers. At least 11 of the lobbyists named on those reports for this issue disclose earlier jobs at the FAA, the Transportation Department or the congressional committees that write aviation law and fund the agency.

The filings do not show what any client asked for in detail, and lobbying on a federal program is legal and routine. But they do show who is working the money as it moves. The reports for July through September were due Oct. 20.

The money at stake

The FAA calls the project the Brand New Air Traffic Control System. Its fact sheet says the work will replace radar, software, hardware and telecommunications, with 612 new radars, 27,625 new radios, 462 digital voice switches and 5,170 new network connections. It lists 44 airports getting new surface radars and 113 control towers getting new tower simulation systems. The agency’s goal is to finish by the end of 2028.

The fact sheet says Congress put a $12.5 billion “down payment” into the project in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and that the FAA needed an additional $20 billion. It names Peraton as the single integrator managing the work, chosen through what it describes as a competitive bid process, with profit “directly tied” to performance.

On Sept. 28, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) introduced the Modern Skies Act, S. 5572, which would provide $30 billion, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. AOPA reported that the bill matches a request Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Sept. 22, with $10 billion each for replacing controller technology, overhauling airport infrastructure such as towers, and a pilot program for new terminals at large and medium airports. Duffy said at the bill’s launch that the first phase was on time and under budget, AOPA reported.

How many are lobbying

The Inquisitor pulled every 2026 quarterly report in the database whose lobbying-issue text includes the phrase “air traffic control.” Where a filer amended a report, only the latest version is counted. The count has stayed close to 100 reports a quarter all year.

About a third of the reports each quarter come from companies and groups that lobby with their own staff. The rest come from outside firms hired by clients. In the third quarter, those firms reported $2.82 million in fees from clients whose reports mention air traffic control. The Doerrer Group listed six such clients, including American Airlines, Boeing, Saab and Aireon. O’Keeffe Shahmoradi Strategies listed five: RTX, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Southwest Airlines, the Charleston County Aviation Authority and the Air Traffic Control Association.

The biggest filers

Large companies report one total for all of their lobbying in a quarter, across every issue. The figures below are not spending on air traffic control alone. They are the total third-quarter lobbying reported by the largest filers whose reports include the issue.

Airlines for America, the main airline trade group, amended its third-quarter report, raising its reported spending to $1,131,400 from $1,100,700. Its amended report lists the Modern Skies Act by name.

Eight third-quarter reports cite the bill or the coalition behind it, even though the bill was introduced two days before the quarter ended. Besides the airline trade group, they are filed by Delta, AOPA ($320,000), the National Air Traffic Controllers Association ($350,000), the American Association of Airport Executives, the Regional Airline Association ($100,000), the Experimental Aircraft Association ($60,000) and a lobbying firm for the Aeronautical Repair Station Association.

The contractors

The FAA picked Peraton as integrator. Peraton’s in-house report for the quarter shows $220,000 in lobbying expenses and lists H.R. 9170, the House’s fiscal 2027 transportation spending bill, along with the “Brand-New Air Traffic Control System.” Peraton also paid Cassidy & Associates $30,000, according to the firm’s report. Lobbyists named on it include Alexander Simpson, who lists a past job as senior counsel to the Senate Commerce Committee.

RTX, the parent of Raytheon, reported $2.98 million in in-house lobbying across all issues. It also hired two outside firms. Keast Strategic Solutions reported $90,000 and described work on an “air traffic control common automation platform” and radar. Its lone lobbyist, John Keast, discloses past jobs as staff director of both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee, and as chief of staff to Roger Wicker, now chairman of the Armed Services Committee, when Wicker was in the House. O’Keeffe Shahmoradi reported $50,000 from RTX.

Other contractors with third-quarter reports that mention air traffic control are listed below. L3Harris Technologies did not use that phrase, but its in-house report ($510,000, all issues) lists the House transportation bill “including programs related to FAA NextGen and network modernization.” A search of the database by client name found no third-quarter reports for Indra.

Air Space Intelligence, a software company, now reports lobbying by its own staff and three outside firms. The newest, MO Strategies, registered on Oct. 16 to work on the fiscal 2027 transportation spending bill, “funding and policy to support adoption of commercial technology for air traffic management.” Astrion Group registered with JTR Strategies on Oct. 20. Its filing lists the FAA’s “deployment and execution” of the new system, “including test, validation, certification, and integration.”

The revolving door

Lobbying reports must list any “covered” executive branch or congressional job a lobbyist has held in the past 20 years. The table shows lobbyists named on third-quarter air traffic control work who list jobs at the FAA, the Transportation Department or the committees that oversee aviation. The jobs are as the filers describe them.

Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Two of his former aides now lobby on the issue. Paul Sass of Cassidy & Associates, who represents the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport Authority on the issue, lists jobs as the committee’s staff director and as Graves’ chief of staff. Jack Ruddy of AxAdvocacy lists jobs as Graves’ legislative director and as the committee’s deputy staff director. He represents LS Technologies, whose registration describes “air traffic control modernization efforts.”

Jenny Rosenberg of JTR Strategies lists jobs as acting assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs at the Transportation Department and as an FAA assistant administrator. Her firm’s third-quarter reports include Rohde & Schwarz USA, an electronics maker, and Astrion. Her firm’s work for Thales USA was the subject of an earlier Inquisitor report.

Methodology

The Inquisitor downloaded all 2026 reports from the LDA database’s public API whose lobbying-issue text includes “air traffic control,” 408 filings in all, on Oct. 23. It removed registrations and amended registrations, then kept the latest version of each quarterly report for each filer, client and quarter. Client counts are by name, so a client that hired several firms counts once.

The search does not capture every report on the issue. Filers that use other terms, such as “air traffic management,” “NextGen” or the system’s acronym, are missed unless they also use the phrase. Thales USA’s reports through JTR Strategies and Baker Donelson, for example, appear only under those other terms. Reports filed after the Inquisitor’s download are not included. In-house dollar totals cover all issues and cannot be split by topic. Each report linked in this story can be checked against the original filing.

Requests for comment

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in a statement attributed to a spokesperson that it supports many of the goals of the Modern Skies Act, including modernizing the air traffic control system and sustained federal investment in modern equipment and facilities. The union said controllers must be meaningfully involved in the development, testing and implementation of the new system so that it meets operational demands and safety needs.

The Inquisitor is seeking comment from the FAA, Peraton, Airlines for America and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association on their lobbying and the new system. It is also asking the offices of Sen. Schmitt and of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, about the bill. NATCA responded; its statement is included above. Other responses will be added to this story.

Update, Oct. 23, 2026: This story has been updated with a statement from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

Photo: Entrance to the FAA’s Potomac Consolidated TRACON in Vint Hill Farms, Va. Federal Aviation Administration photo via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.