Pilots Should See No Immediate Changes
When Lockheed Martin
takes over flight service station services next Tuesday, it is
expected pilots probably won't notice the difference.
Phone numbers, frequencies, and even the onhand FSS specialists
all are expected to remain the same. Lockheed Martin also has
detailed transition plans to ensure that pilots receive the
services they need, according to an AOPA release.
"We are in regular communication with the FAA and Lockheed, and
they understand the importance of maintaining service to pilots
throughout the transition period," said AOPA President Phil Boyer.
"If members have problems with FSS, we can work quickly to get
those concerns addressed."
Lockheed and the FAA will operate a 24-hour operations center
that will act as a point of contact to ensure continuity of
services. The center will open October 3 and remain open for at
least 30 days, to help insure the transition goes as smoothly as
possible. Lockheed also has extensive contingency plans in place
should any last-minute issues arise during the initial
transition.
"This kind of planning is important for a smooth transition,"
said Melissa Rudinger, AOPA vice president of regulatory affairs.
"We have worked closely with the FAA throughout this process to
ensure that changes are managed carefully, and with the needs of
pilots in mind."
AOPA has been told that about 1,900 of the current 2,000 FSS
employees have accepted job offers from Lockheed Martin.
Within the next 18 months, Lockheed will consolidate and upgrade
the FSS system. The plan is to consolidate the current 58 FSS
facilities in the continental United States into 20 by 2007.
By April 2006, Lockheed
is expected to launch the Flight Service 21 (FS21) Web portal for
pilots nationwide to obtain preflight briefings, file flight plans,
store user profiles, and get graphical flight planning and weather
products. The first FSS hub in Leesburg, Virginia, also is
scheduled to become operational in April, allowing those in that
briefing area to receive all of the improved services from the FS21
system.
The other two hub facilities, in Fort Worth, TX, and Prescott,
AZ, should be operational by October next year. The remaining 17
facilities should be upgraded with FS21 technology by July
2007.
The consolidation of these facilities should not impact the
level of service pilots receive. Lockheed has a 60-day transition
plan in place, which includes a 30-day gradual transition of some
employees to the new facilities and 30 days of overlapping services
from the new and previous locations.
"AOPA asked for aggressive performance requirements to ensure
that your telephone and radio calls to FSS would be answered
quickly," Boyer said. "Contractually, Lockheed must meet these
customer service standards, so you should notice improved service
as the FS21 technology is integrated."
AOPA has also stressed the importance of maintaining and
supporting both existing DUAT services during the transition. DUAT
providers will continue to provide an important backup system and
will allow pilots to continue to use existing flight planning
software based on the DUAT system.
After the 18-month transition is complete, pilots' telephone
calls must be answered within 20 seconds and radio calls within 15
seconds. Flight plans must be processed in three minutes, and
pireps must be processed within 30 seconds of receipt, 15 seconds
if they are urgent. An annual customer satisfaction survey will
also be conducted.
"And all of these enhanced services are being provided without
user fees — AOPA made sure of that," Boyer said. "It is
estimated that Lockheed's 10-year contract will actually save the
government about $2.2 billion."
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