By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The Trump administration boosted its request for air traffic control funding to $50 billion late Friday after a communications issue forced a nationwide groundstop that halted thousands of ‌flights for hours.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the White House earlier on Friday asked for $30.1 billion to ‌upgrade the United States' aging airports and air traffic control system.

"This is an emergency," Duffy said. "What's more important than having an air traffic ​control system that actually works?"

The issue impacted the FAA's en route centers that handle traffic between airports. But the Republican-led Senate Commerce Committee said the incident highlights the need to prioritize modernizing those centers over other projects and noted Congress approved $1.9 billion to replace outdated en route centers.

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