Sunday, February 10, 2008
Can't you just smell the pork
Air traffic control is something that everybody should be concerned about. The system is currently working at maximum level with old equipment and despite using it frequently, Congress seems in no hurry to make improvements or even pay for what is there now. Still this does not seem to be a potentially fruitful (for the flying public) way to go.
The government already may have underestimated by billions of dollars the cost to transition to a satellite-based air traffic control system in coming years, according to an independent industry analysis.And in 20 years it will work as well as that wonderful anti-missile system that Condi was worrying about back on 9/11. There is always the train.
The Federal Aviation Administration in August awarded ITT Corp. a contract worth up to $1.8 billion to build the first portion of the system, dubbed NextGen, that will take nearly 20 years to complete. The agency has said that the new system will help improve operations and limit delays and is expected to cost between $15 billion and $22 billion.
But an independent industry analysis completed last year forecast that NextGen's software development alone could cost more than $50 billion, Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin L. Scovel III said Thursday during a House hearing on the FAA's proposed budget for 2009.
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