ORLANDO, Fla. – A Central Florida U.S. Congressman is once again urging the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to finally address the situation at Orlando International Airport (MCO).
As the busiest airport in Florida and the 7th busiest in the nation, MCO still operates using a radar approach control building and equipment that have been in service for decades.
It’s called TRACON – Terminal Radar Approach Control.
The Air Traffic Control tower handles all air traffic at and above MCO.
TRACON, a smaller and less conspicuous control building, is responsible for managing all air traffic in Central Florida, serving not only MCO but also Orlando Sanford, Daytona Beach, and Melbourne Orlando international airports.
[RELATED: How Orlando International Airport works to prevent plane collisions]
Rep. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, compared MCO’s TRACON to 1980’s Atari video games.
“That TRACON is very antiquated,” Soto said. “It works with the airport tower for safety and hasn’t been upgraded since the ’80s. And it looks kind of like Atari technology in there, for those of you who were around at that time. While it does the basics, most TRACONs are more modernized.”
The Democrat has been pushing the Federal Aviation Administration to rebuild TRACON at MCO since 2022.
In a letter to the FAA, Soto and two other then-U.S. House Democrats wrote they were “alarmed by the conditions FAA personnel, including professional controllers and Airway Transportation System specialists, are required to endure while ensuring the safety of the traveling public.”
“And so we’re on track but I want to make sure it’s done sooner rather than later,” Soto said. “They’ve already picked out a site down the road in the southeast part of the airport area. So we need to continue moving forward and we’ve seen lately with the crash at Reagan National Airport, how important it is to have the most modern equipment and to make sure that we’re keeping tip-top safety in the skies.”
What’s the holdup?
“It’s highly competitive,” Soto said. “We’re competing with most airports across the nation. Now the design phase was approved, it’s on FAA’s list. But even with funding being there it can sometimes take months and years to draw down on all of this.”
The FAA confirmed to News 6 “A design firm is working on initial siting analysis for the new Central Florida Terminal Radar Approach Control (F11).”
“The firm will present its findings to the FAA later this year,” an FAA spokesperson told News 6 in an email. “Please check back with us then for updates.”
Douglas Lowe, Region 2 Vice President for Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), “represents people with the FAA who are electronic technicians called an Airways Transportation Systems Specialist across the country from New Mexico to North Carolina down to Puerto Rico.”
Lowe said his “position of record for the FAA is with the Orlando Navigations and Communications Service Support Center that maintains the electronics equipment that is inside the F11 Terminal RADAR approach control (TRACON).”
He has maintained some of the “Atari” equipment.
“There are some old systems and there are new systems,” Lowe said. “We are constantly upgrading systems and modernizing, but one of the major problems with this facility is it is limiting in floor space making upgrades difficult. The limited space has upgrades displacing technicians into new leased space away from the TRACON costing the agency more money in leased space. In addition, it restricts adding additional RADAR scopes or positions for more Air traffic controllers. These limitations lead to delays.”
Lowe said upgrading TRACON is necessary to maintain safety.
“Our safety concern is as the Air space continues to get more congested with additional airport growth, space launches and new entrants such as air taxis the inability to add additional RADAR scopes and grow in this building will run us against safety concerns,” Lowe said. “Also, the facility has severe physical issues such as plumbing that is costing millions to repair, this can cause the facility to shut down and create impacts.”
MCO’s TRACON should have been upgraded 25 years ago when the new Air Traffic Control Tower was built, Lowe said.
“The hold up is the agency funding,” Lowe said. “We need people to tell Congress, this administration, the FAA and DOT that public safety is number one and that funding needs to be streamlined to get this project funded and in process. The agency has looked at having the study done, but that has been done before. This facility was originally supposed to be upgraded in 2000 when the ATCT was built. That would have kept it on pace with the growth and airport plans. That unfortunately fell apart due to the 9/11 attacks. Then throughout the past 20 years every time it gets close to being funded, the agency either has to divert funds to some disaster or has funding shortfalls. Our goal here is to get this funding solidified and locked in so that this project gets off the ground and keeps the planes in the sky above central Florida safe.”
Orlando’s TRACON is one of 52 across the country selected by the FAA for modernization.
Angela Starke, MCO Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, said rebuilding TRACON is an FAA project.
“I want to note that the TRACON facility at Orlando International Airport is one of many across the U.S. that has been identified for modernization,” Starke said. “The Aviation Authority continues to work with the Federal Aviation Administration as it prioritizes upgrades to facilities as needed.”
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