Raytheon Co.’s $1.7 billion upgrade of the U.S. air-traffic control system has problems and
isn’t ready for use at its first major airport in Nov. as
planned, a Department of Transportation inspector said.
The Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System, or
STARS, had 221 “trouble reports” as of May 2, including one in
which processor repairs took as long as three hours rather than 30
minutes as the contract requires, DOT Inspector General Kenneth
Mead said in a memo. The system now is in full use at air-traffic
centers in El Paso, Texas, and Syracuse, NY.
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The Federal Aviation Administration plans to fix “truly
critical” problems with STARS and leave others unresolved until
after the agency deploys the system at Philadelphia International
Airport in November, Mead said.
“It is doubtful that it will be operationally suitable by
Nov. to control live air traffic,” the memo to FAA
Administrator Jane Garvey said of STARS. Mead’s office posted the
memo, dated Monday, on its Web site today.
All of the reports on critical problems will be resolved
before the Nov. 17 startup in Philadelphia, Garvey said in a faxed
memo, adding that she “fundamentally” disagrees with Mead.
“Let me be as direct a possible — the FAA has not and will
not deploy a system that is unsafe,” she said in the memo.
Raytheon declined to comment. Shares of the Lexington,
Massachusetts-based company rose 15 cents to $43.19 and have
gained 33 percent this year.
Replacing Equipment
STARS includes computer software, processors and displays
that are clearer and use more color, making it easier for
controllers to spot storms. The upgrade replaces some equipment
that is more than 20 years old and is designed to reduce delays
and costs.
Raytheon in 1996 won a contract to upgrade equipment at 173
air-traffic centers at or near airports that guide planes within
50 miles of takeoffs and landings. The project cost is 80 percent
higher than the original estimate and four years behind schedule,
Mead said in the memo and congressional testimony in March.
El Paso air-traffic controllers, who have been using the
system since April 30, reported problems such as planes not being
displayed properly on screens, Mead’s memo said.
FAA workers responsible for certifying the system at Syracuse
refused to do that until ordered to by supervisors Monday, said
Tom Brantley, national vice president of the employees’ union.
The equipment wasn’t adequately tested and lacked a function
to ensure controllers know data is missing or in error before at
least four minutes lapse, said Brantley of Professional Airways
Systems Specialists, which represents 11,000 FAA employees.
“They weren’t willing to put their name on the line and say
the system could be used safely,” he said in an interview. FAA
workers in El Paso certified the equipment without being ordered,
though they were under pressure to do so, Brantley said.
The Associated Press reported on Mead’s memo last night and
New York Times reported it today.
Bloomberg News
