<B> WashingtonWire</B>
<B>Bill To Mandate U.S.-U.K. Open Skies</B>
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) and ranking Democrat James Oberstar (D-Minn.) have introduced legislation directing aviation negotiators to make substantial progress to open up the U.S.-U.K. market to more competition, proposing harsh penalties if no progress is made. U.S. and U.K. government officials were scheduled to resume talks Oct. 18, mainly on cargo issues but also to probe whether it is feasible to reopen the long-stalled effort to revise the entire bilateral. The Shuster-Oberstar measure would mandate that negotiators come to an agreement that would grant all applications U.S. airlines have filed with the Department of Transportation for routes to the United Kingdom. It also would require more access to London's Heathrow airport for U.S. carriers. If an agreement is not reached within six months of the bill's passage, DOT is directed to revoke all current slots and slot exemptions held by British carriers at Chicago O'Hare and New York JFK airports. In addition, if the United States and United Kingdom do not reach an open skies agreement within one year of the bill's passage, the legislation mandates renunciation of the current U.S.-U.K. accord.
<A NAME="2"><B>FAA Implements ATC Modernization Systems</B>
The Federal Aviation Administration said it has completed the installation of Host and Oceanic Computer System Replacement computer equipment at 20 air traffic control centers and three oceanic centers. The system provides the main computer and processor that produces and processes information on aircraft movements throughout domestic and oceanic airspace. In related news, FAA's new approach to ATC modernization--acquiring new systems on an incremental basis rather than opting to deploy complex projects all at once--seems to be paying dividends, said General Accounting Office's associate director of transportation issues Gerald Dillingham.
FAA's implementation of the Display System Replacement project, which replaces controllers' workstations and other equipment in the nation's en route centers and is one of the major pieces in the agency's modernization program, is "continuing with its new approach to modernization is key to allowing FAA to consistently deliver new systems within established goals," Dillingham said. "Nationwide, DSR has been delivered to all of the facilities that were scheduled to receive it and FAA is in various stages of testing and using it." One lesson learned from the DSR installation, however, is that the transition to the new equipment had an impact on FAA's delivery of ATC services, resulting in some delays. FAA has an opportunity to duplicate its deployment success with DSR on other ATC modernization projects, however, he cautioned, it will be very important for the agency to continue to use an incremental approach to modernization; and work closely with controllers, maintenance technicians and the airlines.
<A NAME="3"><B>FAA Buying More Explosive Detection Systems</B>
FAA will purchase additional CTX 5500 DS explosives detection systems, valued at $4.5 million, made by InVision Technologies for use in airports. The company said it shipped $1 million of the order during the third quarter and will ship the rest by year-end. Separately, InVision announced that it has signed a contract with FAA, with a potential value of more than $80 million over three years for its next-generation CTX 9000 DSi equipment.
<A NAME="4"><B>FAA's Analysis Vs. Testing Decision Upheld</B>
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has upheld on procedural grounds an FAA decision permitting the use of analysis instead of actual full-scale emergency evacuation testing for new airliner designs. The decision lets stand the June 1998 certification of the Boeing 777-300 to carry 550 occupants, based on a partial test involving 80 persons and analysis of previous testing of smaller versions of the plane. The Aviation Consumer Action Project had filed the court challenge to FAA's new policy, stating it had the potential of "launching thousands of new Titanics." The FAA decision also was opposed by National Transportation Safety Board chairman Jim Hall, as well as aviation industry organizations. The court found that FAA's decision was a policy statement, not a rule interpretation and, therefore, the agency was free to change its policies and certify new airliners without adhering to rulemaking procedures for notice and comment or offering a detailed explanation of its decisions under the Administrative Procedures Act.