News: FAA Blames Outdated RADAR

The FAA is saying 30% of the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) flights are late. They are blaming these delays on outdated RADAR systems. “Nationwide we are seeing the highest percentage of delayed flights this decade," FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said. "About 25 percent of all flights in the U.S. are delayed. In 2000, that number was 23 percent.” But officials at SFO blame the delays on bad weather on the East Coast and in the Midwest.

In an effort to resolve the delays, the FAA is seeking $15 billion to $22 billion by 2025 to build a satellite GPS-like system while continuing to operate the existing air traffic control system. Such a satellite system would allow airplanes to fly closer together in the sky, enabling more aircraft to use the nation's airspace at any given time, Gregor said.

Airplanes have to be spaced farther apart with the current radar system because it is not as accurate as satellites are in determining where an aircraft is, said Scott Conde, an air traffic controller at Oakland Center in Fremont and president of the air traffic controllers' union at that facility. Even the most accurate radar can be off by one-third of a mile, and a satellite system would only be off by mere feet, Conde said.

Source Non-Mobile: http://www.redwoodcitydailynews.com/article/2007-9-12-sfo-delays

Related Content: FAA

Tags: ATC, Airlines, Weather
Technorati Tags: ATC, Airlines, Weather