Safety
U.S. Runway Incursions Drive New Safety Push
Controllers, pilots, tech all factor in
Southwest Airlines 737 going around due to runway incursion
The incursion at Chicago’s Midway Airport where a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 crew initiated a go-around when a corporate jet taxied across the active runway. © Screenshot/StreamTime Live

Recent runway incursions and near-collisions have reignited urgent discussions about surface safety at U.S. airports, with regulators, industry groups, and manufacturers calling for new technologies and procedures to address what the NTSB has called a critical risk.

According to FAA data, the number of reported U.S. runway incursions—defined as the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle, or person on the protected area of a surface designated for landing and takeoff—has hovered around 1,700 annually for the past six years. In 2024, the agency recorded 1,758 incursions, nearly matching 2023’s total of 1,760 and continuing an upward trend from a pandemic-era dip in 2020 and 2021.