The Air Traffic Control System

Perhaps the primary challenge for air traffic control (ATC) is to keep up with the ever increasing demand on airspace. Between 1980 and 1987, the number of people travelling by air in the United States grew by about 45%, from 315 million to more than 460 million ("The $18-billion" 51). Indeed, it has been estimated that nearly 1 billion passengers will be flying in the U.S. by the year 2010 (Payne 99). Such growth has made congestion and delays common. Furthermore, in addition to the increase in aircraft numbers, the different mix of various types of aircraft also creates an ATC problem. Between 1983 and 1987, the number of near mid-air collisions reported to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) increased from 475 to 1063. Clearly, public apprehension about air safety is high. As a result of saturation, the system needs constant su

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over the open ocean are on their own (Simpson 15). With implementation of AERA, however, communication and navigation links will be greatly improved. The Aeronautical Mobile Satellite System--consisting of Inmarsat satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit--will enable pilots to communicate with both their airlines' operations facilities and ATC. Moreover, a transoceanic space/earth radionavigation system on transoceanic routes could be fully implemented by the year 2001 (Golbey, "A Turning Point" 42). The Global Positioning System (GPS) consists of 24 Department of Defense Navstar satellites providing information on position, speed, and time, worldwide. Initially designed for military use, this system will become available for civil use "at the highest accuracy consistent with U.S. national security interests" or about 25 meters in 3 dimensions (Golbey, "A Turning Point" 42). Such technology could be linked with ground-based, random-routing navigational systems such as loran. In addition, the use of automatic dependent surveillance (ADS) will allow aircraft-derived position data to be sent from each aircraft via satellite to associated ATC facilities. Such improvements could allow for reductions in separation distance,
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Approximate Word count = 2007
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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