That’s an Antique Keeping You Up There : Update sorely needed for FAA air traffic system equipment

The Federal Aviation Administration is quick to boast that the nation’s air safety record is second to none. Yet there are disturbing signs that the air traffic control system, which handles 8 million commercial flights a year and on which that sterling safety record largely depends, is increasingly subject to large-scale breakdowns that jeopardize the safety of everyone who flies.

Part of the money from each airline ticket is placed in a massive aviation trust fund, which, in part, is supposed to go to upgrade technology. In light of that, many Americans would be surprised to learn that when they are in flight their lives sometimes depend on 1950s-era vacuum tube computers of the sort that can be found in museum displays of antique equipment.

Government officials argue that despite its age, the old flight monitoring equipment is working just fine. But is it?

Federal data documents many breakdowns in air traffic control facilities each year (2,000 involving power failures). This week the FAA reported three computer breakdowns at its air traffic facility outside Chicago. Some controllers have warned of the frightening possibility that the entire Midwest might be left without radar coverage should already shaky backup systems fail.

So what is the FAA waiting for? In the early 1980s, the government began work on a plan to create a state-of-the-art system using computer workstations and specialized software. But the so-called Advanced Automation System, contracted in 1988 to be built by IBM, was hit by huge delays and by 1994 was $2 billion over budget and years behind schedule.

In large measure, safety is being compromised not because of a disagreement over the need for new air traffic control technology but because Congress and the Clinton Administration cannot agree on how to replace the FAA’s onerous and notoriously torpid procurement procedures.

Last year, Vice President Al Gore proposed to improve the federal air traffic control system by turning it over to a new government corporation. Financed by fees from airlines and private plane operators, the plan would save $6.7 billion over five years. More important, Administration officials argue, the corporation would allow quicker and better use of new technology. Government officials are now looking at what are called global positioning satellites to supplement and someday replace equipment in FAA air control facilities. But whichever action the government commits to, it can’t wait much longer.

The number of American air passengers will double in the next 18 years to more than 1 billion a year. Unless urgent steps are taken, overcrowded airports will be the least of the problems.

The Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled hold hearings soon on the air traffic control system. It should address the equipment problems and the proposal for the air traffic control corporation. In the meantime the safety of the nation’s air travelers rests on a wing, a prayer and a vacuum tube.