US FAA to Equip Its Airport Vehicles With Transponders

Source: US News & World Report/Reuters

May 13, 2026, at 3:59 p.m


WASHINGTON, May 13 (Reuters) - ⁠The ⁠Federal Aviation Administration ⁠said Wednesday it will spend $16.5 million to ​install transponders on its airport vehicles after a fatal ‌collision in March at ‌New York's LaGuardia airport between an Air ⁠Canada Express ⁠jet and a fire truck. The fire truck did ​not have a transponder that would have transmitted its location to air traffic control.

The Port Authority of New ​York and New Jersey, which oversees LaGuardia and other ⁠area airports, ⁠said last month ⁠it ​would add transponders to its vehicles that operate around runways.

The ​FAA plans ⁠to immediately begin equipping its approximately 1,900 vehicles at 264 airports that have or will have surface awareness technology. Transponders help air traffic controllers identify and ⁠track vehicles on runways and taxiways.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said ⁠the devices "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."

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2026-05-13/faa-to-equip-its-airport-vehicles-with-transponders