Possible Second Shutdown Looms Large over ATC Overhaul

The U.S. Department of Transportation is making progress on plans to create a “brand new” air traffic control (ATC) system in three years, but another potential government shutdown in late January could add delays. “It doesn’t matter if we have a newer ATC system if it’s going to be shut down for 40 days,” said Sharon Pinkerton, Airlines for America (A4A) senior v-p for legislative and regulatory policy, speaking last week at a Honeywell aviation leadership summit in Washington, D.C..

A4A is backing a bill introduced by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) that would use Airport and Airways Trust Fund money to fund FAA operations, including if a shutdown recurs on January 30. She didn’t indicate if such a bill could be passed in time.

According to Pinkerton, ATC improvements are moving forward with contracts for radar services and voice switches and flow management, all while negotiating a major contract for a systems integrator. “This is a different FAA; it has been remarkable,” she said.

Honeywell’s Bob Buddecke, who is president of Electronic Solutions, said he has seen significant progress not only on the ATC system project, but also CPDLC, which is critical to move from voice to digital messaging.

Pinkerton noted that the $12.5 billion in DOT funding does not fully cover costs for the common automation platform to better integrate en route and terminal facilities, but work has nonetheless started on this.

Besides this major overhaul, ANRA Technologies chief architect David Murphy told attendees that there is also another ATC modernizations underway—for unmanned traffic management systems. ANRA has stood up such a system to control drones with digital data in several places, including for deliveries in North Texas. He believes the two modernization efforts will have to merge soon.