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Many U.S. air traffic control facilities date back several decades and have not been upgraded since. The FAA has been working to change that through the Brand New Air Traffic Control System plan, a modernization project that has $12.5 billion invested by the government. On Aug. 7th, the FAA announced the opening of the latest ATC tower to receive an upgrade. What happened North Carolina's Asheville Regional Airport's (AVL) new 121 ft. tower replaces its previous tower that has been in service since 1961. The FAA provided $31.7 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to construct the new tower. It also stated it awarded $10 million through IIJA for the airport to expand and modernize its terminal. The FAA installed a new Tower Simulation System (TSS) in AVL's tower. The TSS is designed to train controllers in airport-specific operations and scenarios in a controlled environment. The FAA claims it can speed up training times by almost 30%. An airport outgrowing its infrastructure The FAA claims that air carrier operations at AVL have increased by almost 300% in the past decade, making it the third busiest airport in North Carolina. As the airport was designed for much smaller operations, it has put pressure on its facilities to keep up with demand. The tower is intended to support that demand and position AVL for future growth. More than a new tower The most important part of the new ATC tower is not the building itself, but the systems behind it that the FAA is modernizing. Along with the TSS, additional upgrades scheduled through 2028 include new radar systems, voice switches and the Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI). Why it matters The tower opening marks the beginning of Asheville's next modernization phase, not the end of it. Airport expansion projects are planned for elsewhere on the field and the federal funding for the terminal will be used to increase gate capacity from 5 to 12. The finished and future upgrades reflect the FAA's larger effort to modernize training, surveillance, and communications across the national airspace system.