The FAA is investing $16.5 million to equip all airport vehicles with transponders that help air traffic controllers identify and track them on runways and taxiways.
According to FAA officials, the agency had been planning this project for several months and accelerated it following the March 22, 2026, accident at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in which an Air Canada jet struck an unequipped Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle after landing.
“Vehicle Movement Area Transmitters (VMATs) help prevent dangerous runway incidents and by accelerating the deployment of this technology, we’re closing critical visibility gaps on our nation’s runways and taxiways,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.
VMATs track vehicles at airports that have surface surveillance systems. They appear on controllers’ screens with their identities and call signs. Vehicles without VMATs appear only as blue diamonds on controllers’ screens with no identifying information, FAA officials explained.
The FAA will immediately begin equipping approximately 1,900 vehicles at the 44 airports that have Airport Surface Detection System-Model X (ASDE-X) and ADS-B Airport Surface Surveillance Capability (ASSC), as well as the 220 airports that have or will be getting Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI) surveillance systems. The FAA will complete the work as soon as possible based on the availability of transponder units, officials noted.
The FAA also reminded airport officials that they can use federal grant money to install transponders on their vehicles, and recommends they encourage airlines and others that operate on the airfield to follow suit. More than 50 airports have already expressed interest in this, and the FAA is exploring additional ways to get this equipment into more vehicles, agency officials said.
For more information: FAA.gov
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