New equipment should prevent another occurrence of the Turkey Day Meltdown

The FAA has agreed to upgrade the ILS systems at Reno/Tahoe International Airport by June 2005 to avoid the problems that shut down the airport in November.

FAA Administrator Marion Blakey told the Reno Gazette-Journal that the Administration has been working with airport officials ever since the outdated ILS equipment in use now failed twice, forcing the cancellation or delay of hundreds of flights and leaving thousands of people stranded.

The equipment has been repaired and airline schedules have been modified to "help prevent future interruptions in service at Reno/Tahoe," according to Administrator Blakey, in a letter to Sen. John Ensign of Nevada.

“Administrator Blakey has gone to great lengths to ensure that residents and visitors to Reno-Tahoe do not experience a repeat of that horrible shutdown,” said Ensign. “Stranded travelers and equipment failure are not headlines we want to revisit ever again.”

“I appreciate the FAA’s prompt attention to this matter,” added Ensign in a press release. “I will continue to monitor the situation and take any action necessary to ensure that passengers at the Reno-Tahoe airport are not inconvenienced again by this type of equipment failure.”

FMI: www.faa.gov