Quokka
23rd Mar 2010, 06:21
Bill aims to speed up air traffic system overhaul
By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 1 min ago
WASHINGTON – Transforming the nation's air traffic system by replacing World War II-era radar with 21st century GPS technology would be accelerated under a bill approved Monday by the Senate.
The $34.5 billion bill funds the Federal Aviation Administration through Sept. 30, 2011... It also addresses a series of safety concerns raised by the crash of a regional airliner last year near Buffalo, N.Y., that killed 50 people.
The centerpiece of the bill calls for key elements of the FAA's NextGen program to be in place at the busiest American airports by 2014. The system won't be fully in place for noncommercial aircraft until after 2020.
The nation's antiquated air traffic control system is a major source of airline delays.
The new system is projected to cost the FAA as much as $22 billion through 2025. Airlines would have to spend as much as $20 billion more to install equipment in their planes.
In the long term, the system is expected to save airlines money by allowing planes in crowded air corridors to take more direct routes and fly closer to each other without safety risks, reducing delays, saving energy and cutting down on pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions. Pilots will have real time information on the location of other aircraft.
The system is crucial to handling the expected growth in air traffic from about 700 million passengers in 2009 to the more than 1 billion annually by 2023.
The United States lags behind other nations in making the transition to the new technology, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., a key sponsor of the bill. Even Mongolia, he said, is further along.
"It's embarrassing," said Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
The bill, passed by a 93-0 vote, contains a provision authorizing the FAA to make grants to airlines to help cover equipment costs. Some airline executives have said that as much as they want the new system, they can't afford to put it in their planes.
Airlines have suffered repeated shocks over the past decade, including the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the SARS virus, volatile oil prices and the current economic downturn. They have shed more than 158,000 full-time jobs since employment peaked in 2001 and lost an estimated $30 billion to $60 billion in recent years...
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Associated Press writer Jim Abrams contributed to this report.
Interesting... even in an economic shock, they're determined to implement ADS-B as soon as possible.
By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 1 min ago
WASHINGTON – Transforming the nation's air traffic system by replacing World War II-era radar with 21st century GPS technology would be accelerated under a bill approved Monday by the Senate.
The $34.5 billion bill funds the Federal Aviation Administration through Sept. 30, 2011... It also addresses a series of safety concerns raised by the crash of a regional airliner last year near Buffalo, N.Y., that killed 50 people.
The centerpiece of the bill calls for key elements of the FAA's NextGen program to be in place at the busiest American airports by 2014. The system won't be fully in place for noncommercial aircraft until after 2020.
The nation's antiquated air traffic control system is a major source of airline delays.
The new system is projected to cost the FAA as much as $22 billion through 2025. Airlines would have to spend as much as $20 billion more to install equipment in their planes.
In the long term, the system is expected to save airlines money by allowing planes in crowded air corridors to take more direct routes and fly closer to each other without safety risks, reducing delays, saving energy and cutting down on pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions. Pilots will have real time information on the location of other aircraft.
The system is crucial to handling the expected growth in air traffic from about 700 million passengers in 2009 to the more than 1 billion annually by 2023.
The United States lags behind other nations in making the transition to the new technology, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., a key sponsor of the bill. Even Mongolia, he said, is further along.
"It's embarrassing," said Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
The bill, passed by a 93-0 vote, contains a provision authorizing the FAA to make grants to airlines to help cover equipment costs. Some airline executives have said that as much as they want the new system, they can't afford to put it in their planes.
Airlines have suffered repeated shocks over the past decade, including the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the SARS virus, volatile oil prices and the current economic downturn. They have shed more than 158,000 full-time jobs since employment peaked in 2001 and lost an estimated $30 billion to $60 billion in recent years...
___
Associated Press writer Jim Abrams contributed to this report.
Interesting... even in an economic shock, they're determined to implement ADS-B as soon as possible.