By David Shepardson<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) – The Federal Aviation Administration needs more funding from Congress to complete phase one of a $10.6 billion air traffic control \u200creform plan and has underestimated the total costs of operating the new system, \u200caccording to a government report released on Monday.<\/p>\n
The Government Accountability Office said the FAA had not fully assessed the \u200bcosts of operating the new system or set a detailed schedule for completing reforms.<\/p>\n
“In essence, the FAA is buying delivery speed at the risk of cost uncertainty and potential disruptions,” the GAO report said, adding, “these risks increase the likelihood of FAA repeating its history of cost \u200coverruns, delays, and unmet performance targets.”<\/p>\n
Congress \u2060previously approved $9 billion for ATC reforms in the first phase. The FAA is also using $1 billion from its current-year budget and needs another $574 \u2060million, the GAO said. The price tag for telecommunications upgrades has jumped $4.75 billion to $5.91 billion, GAO said.<\/p>\n
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford is set to testify on Tuesday before Congress on the effort and \u200bits \u200bplan to begin deploying a software-based program to \u200btry to avoid flight delays.<\/p>\n
The GAO \u200csaid the FAA has over 11,000 separate projects in phase one of the $10.6 billion reform plan.<\/p>\n
The FAA said in a letter to the GAO that it is committed to using best practices to oversee the project that it says “remains largely on plan,” including over 95% of specific tasks.<\/p>\n
The FAA’s existing air traffic control systems are “severely outdated, underperforming, and unsustainable. This aging \u200cand unreliable technology has contributed to an increase in \u200baviation incidents,” GAO said.<\/p>\n
Replacing air traffic control tower \u200bvoice switches carries the highest risk because \u200bof the size of the sites and airspace it controls, the \u200cage of technology and need to operate \u200bnew and old voice \u200bswitches simultaneously.<\/p>\n
The GAO noted that the FAA released its first comprehensive plan for improving air traffic control services in 1982 and has since suffered a series of \u200bcost overruns and delays while \u200cdelivering limited results.<\/p>\n
The FAA in December tapped Peraton, which is owned by Veritas \u200bCapital, to oversee the modernization effort, awarding it a $1.5 billion contract.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by \u200bDavid ShepardsonEditing by Nick Zieminski and Bill Berkrot)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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