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Duffy Kicks Off the Aviation Modernization Summit, Feb. 20, 2026

February 20, 2026 · US Department of Transportation · 0:26:01

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy joined the Aviation Modernization Summit — hosted by the Air Traffic Control Association and Amazon Web Services at Amazon’s HQ2 in National Landing — and kicked off the gathering, in the Department of Transportation’s February 20, 2026 upload. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford attended with him, as the hosts noted in introducing the Secretary. The summit’s hosts framed the occasion around the brand-new air traffic control system program, stating the Department of Transportation’s goal to deliver the modernization in three years — “not 30 years, not 13 years, in three,” as the host put it — and the day’s agenda of operational, technical, and workforce sessions with FAA leadership and industry.

Why it matters

The February summit is the industry-alignment step of the Modern Skies build: the Secretary personally opening the room where the department, the FAA, and the technology and aviation industries coordinate on the new system, two months before the larger Modern Skies Summit he keynoted in April 2026. The three-year delivery goal stated here is the schedule commitment the September 2026 Modern Skies Act request was later built to fund.

Sources: U.S. Department of Transportation, “U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy Joins Aviation Modernization Summit” (official upload, embedded above). Remarks as delivered at the summit.