Trump’s administration announced on Thursday an ambitious three -year plan to replace the aging system of the United States air traffic control.
Officials did not provide an accurate estimate of the cost, but stated that it would require billions of dollars. They said that a $ 12.5 billion budget proposal that the parliamentary committee developed last week is a solid “deposit” on a plan that was developed after a deadly collision of Midair via Washington, DC, in January.
Here are some of the key numbers of improvements in the plan:
The plan requires installation of 4,600 high -speed network connections for data and communication across the air traffic control system at airports and radar centers and other devices across the country.
Transport Minister Sean Duffy said there was a desperate need to upgrade the Federal Aviation Communication network, as part of it still works on outdated copper wires.
Some shortcomings of the current system have been exhibited at Newark, New Jersey, Airport in the last two weeks. Air traffic control center in Philadelphia, which controls AZ Newark aircraft, lost its radar signal for 30 to 90 seconds on April 28, which means that air traffic controls could not find out where the aircraft were temporarily.
The FAA then slowed down the operation at the airport in Newark, which forced the airlines to cancel or delay hundreds of flights and travelers stuck. It seems that the source of the problem was a decay in lines carrying radar data from the device in New York to air traffic administrators in Philadelphia.
FAA is already working on the replacement of these lines with optical fibers and training more controllers to improve the situation in Newark.
Duffy said that the optical fiber line would be a priority in the nationwide level, but in some cases the government can look at satellite or cellular technology. Duffy said he was “agnostic” about whether Starlink Elon Musk or any other company should conclude contracts and let the bid process play.
The plan requires replacement of 618 radar systems across the country.
Duffy said that many existing radar systems at airports date back to 80 or even 70 years, so they must be replaced.
If repairs are needed, some outdated components may be difficult to find, so Duffy said that the government would ever resort to buying eBay parts to maintain its systems.
The plan proposes to create six new air traffic control centers, which is an important number because one has not been built since the 1960s. Duffy said that the aim would be to consolidate hard-standing devices whenever possible.
FAA would build 15 new towers combined with devices for control of radar access at airports across the country.
FAA relies on aging radio equipment that enables air traffic regulators to talk to pilots. Some of these radios are over 30 years old.
Newer digital equipment should be more reliable and offer more clarity than old radios and also ensure a safer system.
The plan of modernization of the air management system of the nation caused support of 55 groups across the aviation industry. The new Modern Skies coalition includes main trade unions, business groups, aircraft manufacturers and other associations.
Representatives of these groups attended the Plan on Thursday.
Only about 44 of the most complex airports currently have high-tech systems installed that help drivers watch where the aircraft are on the ground.
Two hundred additional airports would gain these systems, allowing controllers to accurately monitor the positions of aircraft instead of using the telescope from the tower window.
But even after these improvements, another 200 airports would remain without these ground systems that help maintain aircraft to hit each other.
This article was generated from an automated news agency without text modifications.
(Tagstotranslate) Air traffic control system (T) Federal Aviation Administration (T) Newark Airport (T) Fiber Optic Line (T) Modernize air traffic control
