Did the FAA Fly Off Course? By Ronald Zarr

Two Types of Computer Systems Airport Control Systems - systems used at all commercial airports that control all airways within 20 to 30 miles of the airport Air Route Traffic Control systems - systems that operate at 20 centers around the country and control high altitude planes that fly between their point of origin and their destination

Older Systems Mainframes used from the 1950s –Increased failures –Parts are very limited in supply –Fewer technicians skilled on older technology Software used not updated since 1960s –Can not be upgraded due to old hardware –Old software is limited in features

Why Upgrade? How? Why? –Safety will be increased –Efficiency will be improved –Operation costs will be decreased How? –The first plan was called AAS It had many problems and eventually failed –The second plan was called STARS Results of this plan depend on who you ask

AAS Project Awarded to IBM in 1988 after planning 5 years with initial budget of $4.8 billion –1990 – 19 month delay –1992 – 33 month delay and budget now $5.1 –1993 – budget now $5.9 billion –April 1994 – FAA had study done by independents Study concluded AAS was going to fail Awarded to Lockhead Martin in June 1994 –Project was downsized, budget increased to $6 billion and target date moved to 2000.

A STAR Is Born STARS – a new project that replaced the AAS project –New contractor – Raytheon –Start in 1998 and end in 2007 –Budget rose to $11 billion –317 airports including some military bases –Plan includes 4 computer systems for each site Primary, backup and a mirrored pair for redundancy

Falling or Rising STAR Plan had a great logical architecture, but no technical or physical architecture –10 development teams 7 of 10 had no technical planning at all 3 of 10 had some technical planning but it was very inconsistent due to lack of standards 10 teams developed 54 programs in 53 different programming languages IT Management Reforms Act –Mandates major IT reforms in government agencies –Al agencies must have a CIO

Falling or Rising STAR cont.. FAA lobbied to be exempt from IT Reforms Act Communication gap between managers and air traffic control system users –Managers say that STARS is a success –Users say that STARS is NOT a success Very complex Cumbersome Unclear

Comparison NAV CANADA is FAA equivalent –Private owned instead of government owned –They have completed $27 million upgrade –Working on another upgrade already to stay current –Revenue provided by surcharging tickets Cost is public and provided on web site:

Recommendations Set standards and make mandatory Have a technical architecture team Hardware first, then software –One facility at a time (like NAV did) –Keep both systems running for a while for testing phase Most importantly, talk to users for ideas