A panel consisting of various aviation experts and hosted
by the Government Accountability Office recommended a
strategy of short and long term fixes for improving
FAA’s ongoing air traffic control modernization program.
The participants cited resistance to change especially
among managers that might view new technologies as
factors that could destabilize their positions, and
said the main technical factor affecting modernization
is a “shortfall in technical expertise needed to
design, develop or manage complex air traffic systems,”
according to GAO-05-333SP, which summarized the views
of the panel that met last fall.
It said technical expertise is needed to identify
potential problems during project development and to
make sure contractors are on target and not
exploitative — and that “the ATO should consult an
advisory board, identify and consider purchasing
needed technologies that other countries have
developed, and hire more skilled engineers to provide
in-house expertise.”
According to the panel, budgetary constraints include
a multi-billion dollar FAA-projected shortfall between
available revenues and modernization needs over the
next four years, and a long and relatively inflexible
budgetary cycle that is unfit for an ATC system in need
of “much more managerial freedom and short-term decision
making.”
Participants had suggested cutting spending to match
revenues and developing ways to present FAA’s budget
request more clearly to Congress, said GAO.
