Technology Review: FAA outage reveals odd computing practices

Not comforting...

When a computer glitch at a Federal Aviation Administration center caused widespread airline delays this week, it served as a reminder that the U.S. flight system is waiting for a modernizing overhaul. But it also appears the FAA's management of its existing technologies falls short of standards in other vital sectors.

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Basil Barimo, vice president of operations and safety for the Air Transport Association of America, a trade association that represents the nation's largest carriers, says the fundamental problem is that the FAA still relies on outdated technology, including a radar-based control system designed in the 1940s and '50s. Barimo is optimistic that the FAA's NextGen modernization program -- a $15 billion-plus upgrade to satellite-based technology that will take nearly 20 years to complete -- will help make more efficient use of the nation's airspace and safely allow more planes in the sky.

Technology Review: FAA outage reveals odd computing practices