Hi everyone. I stumbled across this article dated September 1 yesterday, but otherwise haven't seen or heard much more on the subject. Does anyone know where this new report is located? I looked around in the FAA website but wasn't able to locate it. FAA Admits Holding Pattern Report Blasts Outdated Air Traffic Control System Everything from the weather to computer problems have conspired to make flight delays far more frequent this summer. Click on the interactive for details on some of the bigger problems around the country. (ABCNEWS.com) By Bill Brewster ABCNEWS.com Sept. 1 - The Federal Aviation Administration blew the whistle on itself today by releasing a report that intimates that the nation's air traffic control system has been pushed to the breaking point. The report describes a system beset by difficulties with equipment, communications, planning, training and timeliness. Separately, FAA chief administrator Jane Garvey met with representatives of various media organizations, including ABCNEWS, to explain the issues described in the report and what the FAA is doing to fix them. The report's executive summary says the system "is currently not being used to achieve maximum efficiency," and says some traffic-management procedures are "slow to be implemented" and "poorly coordinated" among different control facilities. "We are never going to be able to eliminate delays completely," Garvey said. "But our job is to manage the system as efficiently and always as safely as we can." . . . [Snip] Few Quick Fixes The FAA is undertaking a $13 billion overhaul of air traffic control computer systems, but by even the most optimistic schedule that project is years from completion. David Stempler of the Air Travelers Association, a passenger advocacy group, says, "The FAA has gotten so far behind with its equipment that it's always trying to play catch-up." . . .

http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/travel/DailyNews/faareport990901.html

-- Clyde (clydeblalock@hotmail.com), September 04, 1999

Answers

Don't know how that happened. I'll try again:

Hi everyone. I stumbled across this article dated September 1 yesterday, but otherwise haven't seen or heard much more on the subject. Does anyone know where this new report is located? I looked around in the FAA website but wasn't able to locate it.

FAA Admits Holding Pattern Report Blasts Outdated Air Traffic Control System

Everything from the weather to computer problems have conspired to make flight delays far more frequent this summer. Click on the interactive for details on some of the bigger problems around the country. (ABCNEWS.com)

By Bill Brewster ABCNEWS.com Sept. 1 - The Federal Aviation Administration blew the whistle on itself today by releasing a report that intimates that the nation's air traffic control system has been pushed to the breaking point. The report describes a system beset by difficulties with equipment, communications, planning, training and timeliness.

Separately, FAA chief administrator Jane Garvey met with representatives of various media organizations, including ABCNEWS, to explain the issues described in the report and what the FAA is doing to fix them. The report's executive summary says the system "is currently not being used to achieve maximum efficiency," and says some traffic-management procedures are "slow to be implemented" and "poorly coordinated" among different control facilities.

"We are never going to be able to eliminate delays completely," Garvey said. "But our job is to manage the system as efficiently and always as safely as we can." . . .

[Snip]

Few Quick Fixes

The FAA is undertaking a $13 billion overhaul of air traffic control computer systems, but by even the most optimistic schedule that project is years from completion. David Stempler of the Air Travelers Association, a passenger advocacy group, says, "The FAA has gotten so far behind with its equipment that it's always trying to play catch- up." . . .

-- Clyde (clydeblalock@hotmail.com), September 04, 1999.

Where's Hoffy to argue that the FAA is A-OK???

-- Disgusted (hoffy@pollyextraordinaire.com), September 04, 1999.