<B> Washington Wire</B>
By Barbara Cookm, Washington Correspondent
<B>Grants Needed For Y2K</B>
FAA administrator Jane Garvey told a Congress committee that U.S. airports should be allowed to use up to $100 million in existing federal grants to research and resolve Y2K computer problems.
Garvey said that smaller airports are the hardest hit with Y2K issues, since they usually can't afford to hire experts to address these problems. She said her agency is sending a letter to FAA-certificated airports outlining their responsibilities for assessing and repairing Y2K glitches.
The Air Transport Association testified at the same hearing that its preliminary audit of airports for Y2K readiness revealed that 35 percent still had no plan for dealing with the issue. Airport organizations said later, however, that the ATA figure is outdated. The airlines are supporting Garvey's call for more flexibility in federal grants to allow airports to make the necessary repairs.
<a name="2"><B>FAA Adds Inspections</B>
FAA has issued a new inspection order involving fuel tank safety, this one aimed at Boeing 737-100 through 737-500 series aircraft with 20,000 to 30,000 flight hours. The inspection is not in response to a particular incident, but rather is part of the agency's continuing audit of fuel tank wiring to ensure that no sources of ignition exist that could trigger a fire.
The latest inspection is to check that the affected aircraft do not have problems with chafing and electrical arcing between the fuel boost pump wiring and the surrounding conduit. The FAA order also mandates carriers to add a layer of Teflon sleeking to protect the fuel pump wires. The agency estimated that 215 U.S.-registered aircraft will be affected by the order, at a cost of $1,800 per inspection.
<a name="3"><B>Trouble Looms For ATC Payroll</B>
FAA estimates that the new pay system for air traffic controllers and supervisors may require an additional $1 billion above current payroll costs during the next five years. That's a prediction that led Transportation Department inspector general Ken Mead to warn of potential problems for the agency in meeting the added costs while still maintaining critical safety programs.
"FAA faces significant risks in meeting these workforce cost increases while, at the same time and within the projected revenue base, funding other critical agency requirements," Mead said in a recent audit of the FAA's personnel reform efforts. "These risks also must be considered in the context of other compensation programs being developed in current negotiations with FAA's two other largest national unions."
Mead did say, however, that FAA has made progress in certain attempts at personnel reform, including the recent contract agreement with air traffic controllers.
<a name="4"><B>Pilots Demand Infrastructure Changes</B>
Air Line Pilots Association president Randy Babbitt is calling for improvements to airport infrastructure nationwide to meet the challenge of growing demand for air travel. "There are more planes flying than ever before, and we're trying to fly them into the same infrastructure that we had 30 years ago," Babbitt told members of Washington's Aero Club recently.
The union leader noted that although technology has advanced considerably during his time in the aviation industry, he could only recall two major airports and fewer than a dozen new runways that were built in the United States in the past three decades.