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FAA awards largest contracts ever--$4.4B--for future air traffic network
- Thread starter Steve Wilkins
- Start date
flyn4pride
ENS
I worked on a small portion of the project when i was a gov't contractor, it's a pretty cool system, but as usual who knows when it will really be ready.
The FAA's been promising a massive 'upgrade' of the system for years --- since 1970. Part of your ticket money goes toward it ... it's call the 'Airport and Airways Trust Fund'. In reality, it's a government slush fund that has basically been used to fund current FAA operations and administration. Research?? Development?? ATC system infrastructure improvements?? I think not ... however, I DO wonder where all the money went ... it sure as hell didn't go toward improving the ATC system.
I'll believe it when I see it. We'll all be dead by then, however ...
I'll believe it when I see it. We'll all be dead by then, however ...
I was thinking the same thing. I can remember reading in Flying and other magazines 20 years ago about the "revamping" of the ATC system. The only "revamping" I ever saw was them getting rid of TCA's, ARSA's, TRSA's, et al and replacing them with the alphabet soup airspace designations.
I was lucky enough to be in the new Atlanta TRACON shortly after it came online a couple years back. The current system they have there is impressive. Most of the controllers I spoke with talked about how significant of an upgrade it was from their old facility. A few of the guys I spoke with remember working on the huge CRT monitors circa Gerald Ford that have been mostly (if not completely) replaced . . . It's been awhile since I've been involved with the TRACON side of things. The systems they have now are significantly better than what was in place 10 years ago. That being said, the NextGen system, which is ADSB/GPS based (I believe) will only be useful if all aircraft are equipped with the necessary hardware. That's a HUGE chunk of change, considering that there are still a significant number of aircraft flying without transponders, much less GPS.
That being said, I think it's important we modernize our equipment and facilities, but the NextGen system is really far fetched without a crippling mandate that all aircraft have an expensive piece of hardware installed. The most problematic situation facing the National Airspace System is the airline's hub and spoke system. Anyone who's had to connect through JFK/EWR/LGA during a winter snow storm understand what I'm talking about. So few aircraft can leave or arrive that it really becomes an airspace choke point. I can't testify to the airline pilot side of the mess, but I would be very intrigued to hear how it might help the airlines, their routing, and the STARs/DPs out of that area.
I can .. I know the current FAA Administrator .. personally. That does not bode well for the 'system', but it's great for politics & 'policy' and perpetuating 'dead-wood'. He's a self-serving ass-kisser.
