03:30 PM EDT, 04/30/2025 (MT Newswires) -- RTX (RTX) and IBM ( IBM ) are among a group of four or five companies vying to win a new, multi-billion dollar contract to overhaul the nation's air traffic control system, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday.

"We're going to have one great, big contractor," the President said during a midday cabinet meeting. "It may be Raytheon, it may be IBM ( IBM ), (or) it could be any one of four or five different groups," he said without naming the other possible candidates.

Trump's comments came after US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy highlighted the need to modernize the equipment and networks used by air traffic controllers to monitor and direct aircraft and to avoid incidents like the Jan. 29 collision of a regional passenger jet and US Army helicopter near Washington Reagan National Airport, which killed all 67 people aboard.

Funding is pending in Congress, with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee earlier Wednesday considering a $15 billion package for the Federal Aviation Administration that includes $2.64 billion for replacing control tower radars and approach control equipment, $5 billion for other tower equipment and $4.75 billion for telecommunications infrastructure and system replacement.

Funding appropriated through the bill, which also includes $1 billion to recruit new air traffic controllers, would be available through the end of the federal government's fiscal 2029, according to the budget resolution.

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