Rushed FAA Test of NextGen Computer System Unsuccessful; NATCA Wants to Help Make it Work But Agency Continues to Shut Door

Rushed FAA Test of NextGen Computer System Unsuccessful; NATCA Wants to Help
Make it Work But Agency Continues to Shut Door

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Federal Aviation
Administration early last Saturday morning rushed another key test of a
problem-plagued and oft-delayed new computer system for the nation's large,
regional air traffic control facilities with the goal of keeping it on
indefinitely at Salt Lake Center, but got a predictable and disappointing
result: the system held its own during light traffic on the overnight shift
and then failed when traffic volume picked up later in the morning. Only the
controllers' hard work and resourcefulness averted bigger problems, but not
before the FAA's lack of training for them on both the primary and backup
computer systems became disturbingly clear.

Called En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM), the system brings with it the
hope of greater flexibility, a better system for controllers and the arrival
of a new "brain" for the National Airspace System that will form a cornerstone
of the FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System. But numerous serious
bugs and related problems are the reason that ERAM currently remains without
the confidence of controllers tasked with using it.

When ERAM eventually failed on Saturday morning, the backup system that kicked
in caused serious problems of its own. Controllers witnessed the very serious
loss of information about the aircraft they were handling on their radar
scopes, forcing them to ask aircraft, basically, "who are you and where are
you going?" The effect of this loss of information was felt at every FAA
terminal radar facility that handles flights within the larger "umbrella" of
Salt Lake Center's airspace, which extends from the Canadian border south to
almost the Arizona border, east into central Wyoming and west into central
Nevada.

Additionally, the computer problems caused some flight delays. Salt Lake
Center had controllers at Salt Lake TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control)
stop all departures that would have needed to be worked by Salt Lake Center
when they reached higher altitudes, incurring about two dozen delays from Salt
Lake City International Airport. And each of the five regional en route
centers that border Salt Lake Center felt the effect and were given
restrictions that forced them to move aircraft off of their filed route of
flight. For example, this included flights headed west into both Las Vegas and
Los Angeles (LAX), as worked by Denver Center.

All of these problems could have been averted -- and still can be before the
next test -- if the FAA had included NATCA in this process and worked with the
union to formulate a plan for training and contingencies. But that has not yet
happened, despite the fact that Saturday's test came just 48 hours after the
start of a new contract with NATCA which the FAA has correctly hailed as a
new, positive chapter in its relationship with controllers.

"The FAA has been stubbornly unwilling to collaborate with NATCA in this
project's development. And now, the FAA is finding out it is unable to
successfully test and deploy this critical new computer system without the
involvement of NATCA," said NATCA Northwest Mountain Regional Vice President
Jim Ullmann. "They have rushed forward to meet artificial deadlines without
being fully ready for this challenge. NATCA stands ready, willing and able, as
always, to help implement this system safely and effectively. All the FAA has
to do is allow that to happen. We demand modernization that works and is
safe."

NATCA is asking the FAA to stop any further testing of ERAM on live traffic
until both parties can reach an agreement on how to formally collaborate on
this project with one another and gain the critical involvement and confidence
of the controllers responsible for using this system to ensure the safety of
the flying public.

SOURCE National Air Traffic Controllers Association

Doug Pincock, Salt Lake Center Facility Representative, +1-801-971-4078, or
Doug Church, National Office, +1-301-346-8245, both of the National Air
Traffic Controllers Association