US Airlines Essay Research Paper Deregulation of

US Airlines Essay, Research Paper

Deregulation of the U.S. airline industry has resulted in ticket prices dropping

by a third, on an inflation-adjusted basis. As a result some 1.6 million people

fly on 4,000 aircraft every day. Airlines carried 643 million passengers in

1998, a 25% increase over 1993 and the FAA estimates that the nation..s

airline system will have to accommodate 917 million passengers by the year 2008.

The growth in air travel threatens to overwhelm the presently inadequate air

traffic control system, which has not kept pace with available technology in

navigation, communications, and flight surveillance. Much of the equipment used

for air traffic control today is based on fifty-year-old technology; for

example, analog simplex voice links for communications and ground-based radar

for surveillance, and VHF Omnidirectional Range/Distance Measuring Equipment (VOR/DME)

for navigation. The lack of system automation imposes heavy workloads on human

air traffic controllers and increases the risk of accidents in heavy traffic

situations. Capacity limits are being reached in both airports and airspace,

with congestion delays in departure and arrival schedules reaching record

numbers. Funds to upgrade the air traffic control system are available in the

trust fund created to receive the tax applied to airline passenger tickets and

the tax on fuel for general aviation. The General Accounting Office says

modernizing the air traffic control system will cost at least 17 billion for

just the first 5 years of the FAA..s 15-year National Airspace System

improvement plan. It is the NAS that provides the services and infrastructure

for air transportation. Air transportation represents 6% of the Nation..s

gross domestic product, so the NAS is a critical element of our national

economy. Given the size of the NAS, the task ahead is enormous. Our NAS includes

more than 18,300 airports, 21 air route traffic control centers, over 460 air

traffic control towers and 75 flight service stations, and approximately 4,500

air navigation facilities. The NAS spans the country, extends into the oceans,

and interfaces with neighboring air traffic control systems for international

flights. The NAS relies on approximately 30,000 FAA employees to provide air

traffic control, flight service, security, and field maintenance services. More

than 616,000 active pilots operating over 280,000 commercial, regional, general

aviation and military aircraft use the NAS. On March 11, 1999, the FAA released

the NAS Architecture Version 4.0 to the public. Key influences on the

architecture include the 1996 White House Commission on Aviation Safety and

Security, which recommended that the FAA accelerate modernization of the NAS,

and the 1997 National Civil Aviation Review Commission, which recommended

funding and performance management methods for implementing NAS modernization.

It describes the agency..s modernization strategy from 1998 through 2015.

Based on the Free Flight operational concept, Version 4.0 contains capabilities,

technologies, and systems to enhance the safety of the aviation system and

provide users and service providers with more efficient services. Free Flight

centers on allowing pilots, whenever practical, to choose the optimum flight

profile. This concept of operations is expected to decrease user costs, improve

airspace flexibility, and remove flight restrictions. The NAS Architecture is

divided into three modernization phases and its implementation is being

synchronized with the International Civil Aviation Organization to ensure

interoperability and global integration. .h Phase 1 (1998-2002) focuses on

sustaining essential air traffic control services and delivering early user

benefits. Free Flight Phase 1 will be implemented. Controller computer

workstations will begin major upgrades. Satellite-based navigation systems will

be deployed, and air-to-air surveillance will be introduced. The ..Year 2000..

computer problem will hopefully be fixed. .h Phase 2 (2003-2007) concentrates

on deploying the next generation of communications, navigation and surveillance

(CNS) equipment and the automation upgrades necessary to accommodate new CNS

capabilities. Satellite-based navigation systems will be further augmented in

local areas for more precise approaches. New digital radios that maximize the

spectrum channels will be installed. As users equip, automatic dependent

surveillance ground equipment will be installed to extend air traffic control

surveillance services to non-radar areas. Tools from Phase 1 will be deployed

throughout the NAS and upgraded as necessary. .h Phase 3 (2008-2015) completes

the required infrastructure and integration of automation advancements with the

new CNS technologies, enabling additional Free Flight capabilities throughout

the NAS. Two important features will be NAS-wi

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