Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

mained invisible to controllers.
Project Beacon also urged development of a
computerized system to display aircraft identifications,
altitudes, and airspeeds directly on radarscopes—eliminating
the need for shrimp boats. Another
computer system would automatically print out
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The back room (above): Sperry Univac Corporation
developed a system for TRACONs, similar to computers
at centers, that displayed flight information from
aircraft transponders on radarscopes. / Japphire
Nov.
The front line (right): Controllers used the system,
called ARTS, for more than three decades. A new system
known as STARS is replacing ARTS. / National Archives
The Federal Register publishes a 23-page contingency plan drafted by
the FAA outlining how it would respond to a potential air traffic controller
strike. Among other things, the plan would forbid commercial flights
flight strips and continuously distribute information
to controllers for better coordination.
The task force envisioned one common system.
However, en route centers handle high-speed,
high-altitude traffic over a broad area while terminal
environments deal with a mix of planes converging
Chapter 1: ATC Comes of Age
shorter than 500 miles. In August 1981, the agency develops a different
plan to deal with the strike.
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