uAvionix announced a significant contract from the FAA last week to install its FlightLine Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI) system at 55 additional air traffic control towers. The contract marks a major step in the agency’s plan to expand surface surveillance tools nationwide.
The company said the award requires installation, testing and full operational status at all sites within 12 months, building on SAI systems already in service at 14 FAA-towered airports.
The system displays real-time positions of ADS-B–equipped aircraft and vehicles on the airfield, giving controllers a clearer view of movement areas in all weather conditions. FAA officials have said the broader SAI program is one of three fast-tracked efforts within the agency’s Surface Safety Portfolio, which aims to reduce serious close calls across the National Airspace System.
Alongside tower deployments, uAvionix will equip FAA TechOps vehicles with its VTU-20 Vehicle Movement Area Transmitters, allowing ground vehicles to appear on the same display. According to the FAA, airports included in the rollout can also receive grant funding to outfit additional vehicles with transponders.
The initiative supports the current administration’s broader push to modernize air traffic infrastructure under its Brand-New Air Traffic Control System plan, which includes enhanced surveillance, updated automation tools and expanded surface monitoring capabilities. President Donald Trump said last month that a contractor to manage integration of a new air traffic control overhaul would be announced in a matter of weeks. The FAA also recently issued a request for information (RFI) for a new common automation platform (CAP) to replace both the current En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) system and the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS).
The latest award follows earlier FAA approval of uAvionix’s FlightLine Airborne Position Reference Tool. The system was first installed at Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell, Montana, in October. uAvionix said at the time that more than a dozen additional airports had already expressed interest in adopting the technology.
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