Al Root
It's far too early to guess at the root causes of the recent tragedy at LaGuardia airport. But the accident that claimed two pilots' lives will put U.S. Air Traffic Control back into the spotlight.
Several public and private companies are involved in efforts to improve the system. One jumped in Monday trading.
Sunday night, an Air Canada flight arriving from Montreal struck a Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle. The truck was responding to an incident involving a United Airlines flight. The two Air Canada pilots died, and dozens were injured.
The plane, a Mitsubishi CRJ-900, was operated by Air Canada's regional jet operator, Jazz Aviation. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the incident.
The tragedy comes as the Federal Aviation Administration is overhauling the air-traffic control system, which oversees more than 40,000 flights a day carrying some 3 million passengers between more than 5,000 public airports.
The overhaul also will involve billions of dollars spent on enhanced communications equipment, radar tracking, and higher staffing levels. (There are about 14,000 air-traffic controllers in the U.S.)
Privately held Peraton is the prime integrator on the contract, winning the bid from Parsons Corp., which bid with its subcontractor IBM.
Parsons stock was up 4.3% in midday trading at $52.18, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were 1.2% and 1.4%, respectively. Shares were above $80 before Peraton won the integration contract.
Investors might hope that any acceleration in air-traffic control spending benefits the company. Parsons still does Air Traffic Control-related work, including installing equipment.
Other companies involved in the overhaul are RTX, L3Harris Technologies, and Leidos. RTX will provide radars, L3Harris connectivity, and Leidos automation software.
Those three stocks weren't moving much on Monday, all up or down less than 1%.
Verizon Communications is also involved in upgrading communications equipment. The FAA is also considering using Elon Musk's Starlink space-based broadband service for some communication roles.
SpaceX is privately held. Verizon stock was up 0.9% in midday trading. Upgrading air-traffic control infrastructure is a small portion of its overall business.
It's an important part, though, with upgrades designed to improve the system's overall efficiency and safety.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
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March 23, 2026 13:57 ET (17:57 GMT)
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