The Federal Aviation Administration needs to better coordinate
the approval of air traffic controls systems, the Government
Accountability Office has said.
It said the process is key to the agency’s multibillion-dollar
ATC modernization effort, but that ongoing problems with
approving systems for use in national airspace have resulted
in delays, cost growth, and performance shortfalls.
Following an earlier review of five ATC systems, GAO
determined that FAA needs to involve users and technical
experts throughout the approval process, coordinate the
different systems for approving ground and air equipment
for integrated systems, and accurately determine how long
projects will take during design and development,
according to GAO-05-11.
It said that FAA “has not taken action to fully involve all
stakeholders,” but that officials are optimistic that their
new safety management system will ensure the better
coordination of air and ground approval.
The new system entails the realignment of FAA’s
organizational structure to create a formal link between
the air traffic organization, and the office of regulation
and certification, something FAA expects to take three to
five years, said GAO.
It did not say if the change would fully address the
recommendations it made following its earlier review, and
instead recommended that FAA “develop specific plans that
describe how both internal and external coordination will
occur on a system-specific basis.”