FAA installs improved air traffic control system in Palmdale

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FAA installs improved air traffic control system in Palmdale

PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) -- The Federal Aviation Administration unveiled a new air traffic control system at its high-altitude facility in Palmdale as part of a $1 billion nationwide upgrading of air traffic operations.

Authorities replaced 20- to 30-year-old equipment at the facility with more modern equipment known as a Display System Replacement, the FAA said in a news release Thursday.

The Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center in Palmdale guides flights north of the U.S.-Mexico border, over Central California, Nevada and the Pacific Ocean. It began controlling Southern California traffic one year ago.

The new system includes upgraded displays and computer hardware and software. The FAA said the system also will provide a platform for future improvements that will increase productivity and efficiency and help cut costs for airlines and other aviation users.

"This state-of-the-art system is another milestone in our continuing effort to infuse new technologies in the air traffic control system of tomorrow," William Withycombe, the FAA's Western-Pacific Regional administrator, said.

"It will also help keep our skies the safest in the world while air traffic continues to grow," he said.

The installation of the new equipment prompted authorities to move the operations to a new control room. The transition occurred without interrupting air traffic in the region, the FAA said.

The agency is installing Display System Replacements at route centers around the nation. All 20 centers in the continental United States are to have the new equipment by this summer.

Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management in Bethesda, Md. is the main contractor for the $1.055 project.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/calreport/calrep_story.cgi?N333.HTML

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 07, 2000


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