New air traffic control system running over Philadelphia PHILADELPHIA (AP) =97 The new generation of air traffic control technology= =20 was fully deployed Monday at Philadelphia International Airport, the first= =20 to rely solely on the new system. STARS, for Standard Terminal Automation= =20 Replacement System, allows more planes to fly safely in increasingly=20 crowded air space and reduces the workload for controllers. "It's like=20 comparing an eight-track tape player to a CD player," said Tom Bayalis, an= =20 air traffic controller, as he showed off the crisp, multicolored computer=20 displays in the new Philadelphia terminal radar control center built to=20 house the new system. Bayalis said Philadelphia's new center is a less=20 stressful place to work than the now-abandoned 31-year-old center, which=20 featured light green displays that were so hard to read the controllers had= =20 to work in near-darkness. Controllers say STARS, with drop-down menus and monitors that present=20 detailed, synchronized information, is easier to use than the old system, a= =20 jumble of knobs, monitors and displays on scratched steel modules. STARS=20 is estimated to cost $1.69 billion and will be deployed in 167 airports=20 over the next eight years =97 sooner, if Congress increases funding for it.= =20 The complete system is being tested and upgraded in El Paso, Syracuse,=20 N.Y., and Portland, Ore. About a dozen other airports are using limited=20 STARS systems, and Miami International Airport and Cleveland Hopkins=20 International Airport are scheduled to get them soon. "What you see in=20 Philadelphia is the future of the national aviation system," said Federal=20 Aviation Administration administrator Marion Blakey. There have been problems. STARS is late, over budget and has its share of=20 bugs. Professional Airways Systems Specialists, the union that represents=20 the workers who maintain the system, said STARS couldn't always distinguish= =20 between a truck on the interstate and a plane on the runway. The FAA has=20 been working with air traffic controllers and Raytheon Co., which built the= =20 system, to test and upgrade STARS since it was installed in Philadelphia in= =20 November. Jill White, PASS representative in Philadelphia, said STARS has= =20 improved since then. Still, she said, "I'm looking to see a better=20 product." Philadelphia was chosen as the first major airport to get STARS= =20 because its system was among the oldest in the country. Sen. Arlen=20 Specter, R-Pa., on hand for Monday's ceremony to commission STARS, had=20 prodded the FAA to install the system in Philadelphia after a series of=20 problems in 1999 and 2000. The airport's automatic radar system failed four times in a year, when a=20 surge in air traffic nationwide caused widespread delays. Philadelphia,=20 the busiest air space in the Northeast, almost had to restrict flight=20 operations because of limits on its 1970s-era computer system, said Bill=20 Voss, director of the FAA's terminal business services. The old system=20 could manage 300 flights at a time, Voss said. STARS can manage=20 thousands. STARS' open architecture allows it to be upgraded=20 incrementally, and less-expensive versions can be developed for smaller=20 airports, he said. Previous systems had to be replaced on a large scale and= =20 all were the same size. "Here's the big payday with STARS," Voss said.=20 "When the world changes, we can change with it." The FAA on Monday also=20 showcased other new technologies aboard its Boeing 727, which it calls a=20 "flying laboratory:" =95 The wide area augmentation system, or WAAS, which corrects the=20 measurements of the satellite-based global positioning system, allowing=20 faster descents so more planes can land per hour. =95 NEXCOMM, the next generation of radio communications, which uses digital= =20 technology instead of analog to allow more people to use the airwaves. =95 Electronic flight bag, a computer that displays the aircraft's position= =20 over surface and airborne maps, as well as weather data and traffic=20 information. Other airports implementing STARS are in Memphis; Hartford, Conn.;=20 Birmingham, Ala.; Albuquerque; Detroit; Omaha; Albany, N.Y.; and Providence *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.natalielaughlin.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************