AOPA: Flight Services Won't Get Better And Could Get Worse

Last week, the House passed the Transportation-Treasury-Housing Appropriations bill with the amendment, sponsored by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). And it means, in plain English, that the FAA would be forced to terminate the FSS modernization contract with Lockheed-Martin, the taxpayers would pay a $350 million penalty to Lockheed, and pilots would continue to suffer through interminable hold times and briefers who don't have access to all the data in the system.

It is, however, not a done deal.

The Senate would have to pass the bill with that amendment before it could become law, and there is strong opposition to Sanders' amendment from the FAA and the Bush administration. President Bush has threatened to veto the bill if it crosses his desk with the amendment still attached.

"It's incredulous that in an atmosphere of concerns for FAA funding, more business-like air traffic operations — and wise use of taxpayers dollars —- that Congress even considered, much less accepted, this amendment," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "We've worked with the FAA for three long years to get a better safety-of-flight information system for general aviation pilots that will also save $2.2 billion over 10 years. It would be a travesty for all of that to be undone now to return to a labor-intensive, antiquated, expensive system that can't meet modern needs."

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.aopa.org