President's Position

AOPA President Phil Boyer has served the association for the past 14 years.

I write this month's column immediately after ending a meeting with a team from Lockheed Martin, the winner of an FAA contract to assume design and operation of a twenty-first-century flight service station system — FS21. After spending 90 minutes getting an advance look at the details of what will be implemented over the next three years, all I can say is, "Wow!" A management team from AOPA and I asked all the tough questions of Lockheed Martin's team — everything any pilot would want to know about a service that is so vital to the safety of general aviation flight, and frankly, I could find no flaws in the answers. Yes, old-timers like me, who remember when we could walk up to one of almost 400 local flight service facilities, may be bothered by change. But if pilots start without any preconceived notions and assume a blank page, then this twenty-first-century solution to briefings and information is, once again, a "Wow!"

The process of awarding this contract came as no surprise to AOPA. For more than five years your organization has recognized that government-provided flight service — whose present technology dates back to the late 1970s — was getting far too expensive and wasn't taking advantage of all the changes that have occurred over the past quarter-century. The Internet and The Weather Channel are two examples. The dedicated FSS briefers we talk to on the phone or in flight have been using antiquated equipment and, because flight service was government controlled, it has been difficult to deploy new technology. God knows we have tried to assist the FAA in modernization through Congress. However, justifying an almost $600 million-a-year service — which our GA avgas taxes fund to the tune of $60 million a year — is an uphill battle. Contacts by phone or in flight were approaching $25 each per call. Your association's concern has been that we would be asked to pay for this service on a per-use basis. For instance, in Switzerland, that country's DUAT (Direct User Access Terminal system — briefing by computer) is free, but charges are made for each call to a weather specialist. No one wants to see that model here.

Last year an established government process to look at outsourcing flight services was initiated. The A-76 study (see " President's Position: Modernizing Flight Service," August 2004 Pilot) provided for the government to continue funding FSS, but allowed bids from five major private companies as well as the FSS employees themselves for operations. Throughout the process AOPA was very involved. We surveyed members on those services they felt it was important to enhance — and who isn't bothered by the long "on hold" that plagues us, especially on bad-weather days? AOPA helped develop the criteria used by the FAA to award the winning contractor: phone calls answered within 20 seconds; radio calls acknowledged within five seconds, with service provided within 15 seconds; services available 24/7; and flight plans filed within 10 seconds of receipt. All of these metrics will be monitored by the FAA, and pilot satisfaction studies must be performed on a regular basis. Fifty-eight of the 61 stations (Alaska keeps its present three) will be consolidated into three data centers at Leesburg, Virginia; Fort Worth, Texas; and Prescott, Arizona. In addition there will be 17 satellite stations throughout the country — existing facilities with all new equipment, and, hopefully, the same qualified specialists who now work for the FAA, will transfer over as Lockheed Martin employees on October 1 of this year. The selection of these stations was not by chance, but through careful consideration of where the pilot population resides, where aircraft accidents have occurred most frequently, and where it would cause the least disruption of the present workforce. The hub and satellites will all be available for walk-up briefings, even though AOPA surveys indicate that less than 2 percent of pilots receive their weather in person.

An all-new sophisticated phone system, Aspect (the same one used by airlines like Southwest), will be employed to distribute calls to FSS specialists trained with specific knowledge of your geographic weather, topography, and airspace. You'll have the option of registering your pilot information, e-mail and/or text messaging address, and personal minimums so when a call is answered the briefer will instantly know he or she is speaking with an airline transport pilot or student pilot and can tailor the information conveyed based on flying experience. For those registered, following a briefing but before your flight, if a notice to airmen (notam) comes up affecting your itinerary, you'll receive an e-mail or text message with the change.

For those who brief by personal computer the new Lockheed system will allow access to the same information provided to the FSS briefers. The same text, graphics, and other elements will emulate the FSS console. Furthermore, and this is one of AOPA's suggestions, you will be able to sit at home in front of your computer, speak with a specialist by phone, and be discussing exactly the same weather depiction.

The government will pay $1.9 billion for this service over 10 years, yet will save $2.2 billion over what it is costing today.

There will be many more meetings, and AOPA will hold both the FAA and Lockheed Martin's feet to the fire on adhering to this federal contract and its specifications. As a pilot who uses all these services, I look forward to what is being called "FS21 — Flight Service for the Twenty-First Century" and this exciting new approach to serve all of us in a more modern and efficient manner.