Delta CEO says air traffic control systems are so outdated that some commercial flight routes were faster in the 1950s than they are today
Delta CEO Ed Bastian also revealed last year that, due to aging air traffic control systems, it actually takes longer today to fly from Atlanta to LaGuardia than it did in the 1950s when the airline opened that route.
Key points
- Even Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy admitted last year that some of the decades-old computer equipment air traffic controllers use looks like it came off the set of Apollo 13, and compared it to a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle.
- “Our controllers and our operators need the best in order to keep us safe and make sure it maintains its safety record.” Despite a barrage of emergency landings, machinery failure, a collision, and other air traffic control failures in the airline industry reported this year, he insists it’s still safe to fly.
- “As Secretary Duffy has said, we must get the best safety technology in the hands of controllers as soon as possible.” Reuters reported in late March the FAA was short about 3,500 air traffic controllers.
Last year, chronic flight delays and cancellations at Newark Liberty International Airport revealed a litany of problems with antiquated air traffic control systems.
But in the short term, the airline industry is making adjustments to improve flight delays and cancellations that result from air traffic control problems.
Additional details
- Although there is bipartisan support to modernize America’s air traffic control system, it’s a process that requires a lot of time and money.
- “Our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our workforce,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
- “If you modernize the skies, you can kind of bring greater efficiency.” By modernizing the skies, the airline chief means using satellite technology, the latest state-of-the-art equipment, and GPS.
- But currently, air traffic controllers have to use a radar point-and-shoot system from the 1960s.
- Many airlines are pulling down their operations at Newark, Bastian said, which reduces some of the congestion at the airport.
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