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A labor union that represents Federal Aviation Administration workers is criticizing a contract the agency recently awarded for a satellite-based navigation program, claiming that the approach may impair aviation safety.

Tom Brantley, president of the Professional Airways Systems Specialists, said in written testimony that the contract to implement the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system, which will replace the current radar system -- and "could be a very useful tool" for increasing airspace capacity -- "places control of the system entirely in the hands of the vendor."

The approach "is one that discounts decades of responsibly ensuring the safety of the flying public," he said at a Wednesday hearing.

Brantley and other officials involved in the program testified before the Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee about the contract awarded to ITT in August. The goal of ADS-B is to enable more precise flight navigation, thereby permitting airplanes to fly closer to one another without colliding. The system will use signals from global positioning system data instead of radar data to pinpoint flight position.

ADS-B has been estimated to save the FAA $5 billion between 2007 and 2035. The FAA's cost for nationwide service through 2025 is estimated at $1.9 billion, and the agency anticipates significant savings from decommissioning many secondary surveillance radars around 2020.

Brantley said he is troubled by the "severe cut in redundancy" that retiring radars would bring. He said he also is disturbed by the FAA's documented history of troubled contract management -- a point the Transportation Department's inspector general noted in his written testimony.

Much of Brantley's testimony focused on the elimination of FAA certification -- or the process in which an FAA employee checks and tests equipment periodically to ensure the parts can be safely returned to service and do not negatively impact any aspect of the national airspace system. Radar always has been certified by the FAA.

"Without a true certification of ADS-B, the controllers will have to rely on [pilots or the contractor] to tell the FAA that the service is wrong," Brantley said.

Transportation IG Calvin Scovel noted that the type of award -- a service contract -- means the government will only own the service, not the infrastructure. FAA will certify the service.

Because FAA will not own the architecture, Scovel said, "We are concerned that FAA could find itself in a situation where it knows very little about the system that is expected to be the foundation of NextGen [navigation]."

ITT has a 60-year history of work in air-traffic control technology, said ITT program manager John Kefaliotis. He added that the contract provides for "continuous government monitoring" and "significant financial incentives for performance" during the deployment and operational phases.

FAA's Vincent Capezzuto testified that the contract is structured as it is to ensure "long-term buy-in by the contractor and the industry while the FAA retains control over system performance and data transmitted." He added, "FAA is a safety oversight agency, first and foremost, and the certification of the data is critical to our mission."

COMMENTS

• On March 27, 2007, The Department of Justice's U.S. Attorney John Brownlee released the following statement, "Today, we announce that ITT Corporation, the 12th largest supplier of sophisticated defense systems to the United States military, will plead guilty to two felony charges, pay $100 million in penalties and forfeitures, subject itself to independent monitoring and an extensive remedial action program, and acknowledge that it illegally transferred classified and/or sensitive night vision technology to foreign countries - including the People's Republic of China - in order to reduce its costs and enhance its financial bottom line. By illegally outsourcing the production of some of the most sensitive pieces of the night vision system, ITT has put in jeopardy our military's night time tactical advantages and America's national security. Simply put, the criminal actions of this corporation have threatened to turn on the lights on the modern battlefield for our enemies and expose American soldiers to great harm. For this, ITT Corporation must be brought to justice." Interesting how criminal activity is rewarded by the US Federal Government - in the form of a $1.8 billion ADS-B contract with the FAA. Kurt Posted October 18, 2007 12:40 PM
• Take a real close look at the contract and how it was awarded and you will see that it is nothing but FRAUD. Marion Blakey left the FAA Administrator job and took with her the 1.8 billion dollar contract to the very company she now represents. This new system will not solve anything. It will be late and have cost over runs and in the mean time it will be the controllers working 6 days a week trying to keep the system together. It cannot be done. the ATC system is on the verge of totally collapsing and congress are the ones to blame. retired air traffic controller Posted October 18, 2007 11:59 AM
• The GPS system is good, but remember, one really good solar flare and every single satellite in orbit (and lots of ground-based computer systems) could be toast. It's always better to have a back-up, but the FAA doesn't seem to think they'll need one once they move to this system. It'll also mean that hundreds, if not thousands, of GA pilots will either have to upgrade their planes (at the cost of who knows how much) or stop flying altogether. Michelle Posted October 18, 2007 11:15 AM