When did PHL ever have 300 active or inactive tracks? Al ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roger James" <ejames@xxxxxxxxx> To: <AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 10:13 PM Subject: New air traffic control system up and running over Philadelphia New air traffic control system up and running over Philadelphia PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The new generation of air traffic control technology was fully deployed Monday at Philadelphia International Airport, the first to rely solely on the new system. STARS, for Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System, allows more planes to fly safely in increasingly crowded air space and reduces the workload for controllers. "It's like comparing an eight-track tape player to a CD player," said Tom Bayalis, an air traffic controller, as he showed off the crisp, multicolored computer displays in the new Philadelphia terminal radar control center built to house the new system. Bayalis said Philadelphia's new center is a less stressful place to work than the now-abandoned 31-year-old center, which featured light green displays that were so hard to read the controllers had to work in near-darkness. Controllers say STARS, with drop-down menus and monitors that present detailed, synchronized information, is easier to use than the old system, a jumble of knobs, monitors and displays on scratched steel modules. STARS is estimated to cost $1.69 billion and will be deployed in 167 airports over the next eight years - sooner, if Congress increases funding for it. The complete system is being tested and upgraded in El Paso, Texas, Syracuse, N.Y., and Portland, Ore. About a dozen other airports are using limited STARS systems, and Miami International Airport and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport are scheduled to get them soon. "What you see in Philadelphia is the future of the national aviation system," said Federal Aviation Administration administrator Marion Blakey. There have been problems. STARS is late, over budget and has its share of bugs. Professional Airways Systems Specialists, the union that represents the workers who maintain the system, said STARS couldn't always distinguish between a truck on the interstate and a plane on the runway. The FAA has been working with air traffic controllers and Raytheon Co., which built the system, to test and upgrade STARS since it was installed in Philadelphia in November. Jill White, PASS representative in Philadelphia, said STARS has improved since then. Still, she said, "I'm looking to see a better product." Philadelphia was chosen as the first major airport to get STARS because its system was among the oldest in the country. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., on hand for Monday's ceremony to commission STARS, had prodded the FAA to install the system in Philadelphia after a series of problems in 1999 and 2000. The airport's automatic radar system failed four times in a year, when a surge in air traffic nationwide caused widespread delays. Philadelphia, the busiest air space in the Northeast, almost had to restrict flight operations because of limits on its 1970s-era computer system, said Bill Voss, director of the FAA's terminal business services. The old system could manage 300 flights at a time, Voss said. STARS can manage thousands. STARS' open architecture allows it to be upgraded incrementally, and less-expensive versions can be developed for smaller airports, he said. Previous systems had to be replaced on a large scale and all were the same size. "Here's the big payday with STARS," Voss said. "When the world changes, we can change with it." The FAA on Monday also showcased other new technologies aboard its Boeing 727, which it calls a "flying laboratory:" _ The wide area augmentation system, or WAAS, which corrects the measurements of the satellite-based global positioning system, allowing faster descents so more planes can land per hour. _ NEXCOMM, the next generation of radio communications, which uses digital technology instead of analog to allow more people to use the airwaves. _ Electronic flight bag, a computer that displays the aircraft's position over surface and airborne maps, as well as weather data and traffic information. Other airports implementing STARS are: Memphis, Tenn.; Hartford, Conn.; Birmingham, Ala.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Detroit; Omaha, Neb.; Albany, N.Y.; and Providence, R.I. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************