Word: blakey
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...alleviate NAS-related delays and prevent a system-wide failure, Blakey, whose term ends on Sept. 13, is calling on Congress to fund a new air traffic control system. She argues that the current system is outdated and overloaded and will break down by the year 2015 if action is not taken now. Her proposal, dubbed "NextGen," will cost an estimated $22 billion and will take until 2025 to fully implement. The proposal was crafted earlier this year by a task force that included representatives from the departments of Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce, NASA, the White House, and aviation...
...bold move, Blakey tacked on a request for NextGen funding to the FAA reauthorization bill, which determines the FAA's budget, that Congress must pass by Sept. 30. If Congress does not pass the bill by then, the FAA will stop collecting taxes and would only have enough money to function for two months. But lawmakers and aviation experts agree that NextGen must be funded. When Congress returns to session in September, figuring out how to fund NextGen will be a top priority...
...NextGen, rather than radar, uses satellite technology to give the real-time position of a plane. That gives planes more flexibility to leave the designated flight path - or "highways in the sky," as Blakey calls them - and chart their own routes that are either more direct or that dodge a storm system. The end result is that flights on average would be shorter and fewer planes would have to be delayed or canceled because of bad weather...
...Louisville, Ken. The FAA has also been testing it since the late 1990s in Alaska, which had a high accident rate because of the rough terrain in the state. Since the satellite technology was installed on small planes in Alaska, its accident rate there has declined 40%, says Blakey...
...these successes won't necessarily make NextGen a silver bullet. First is the question of safety. Because the satellite technology lets aircraft maintain shorter distances from each other, planes will be able to fly closer together. Blakey insists the planes will be at safe distances, but for air traffic controllers that's not enough. "We have 1100 fewer air traffic controllers working today than we did on Sept. 11," says Doug Church of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a union currently in a labor dispute with the FAA. Air traffic controllers are already overworked, Church adds, and NextGen does...