Revision History - Jerry Post

Improvements
In 1981, the FAA was given approval for a comprehensive new plan to upgrade the
computer system. New airports, such as Dallas-Fort Worth coupled with deregulation of the
airline industry in 1978 led to huge increases in air traffic. The $12-billion plan called for
replacement of 12 major systems during the course of 12 years. An additional 80 smaller
projects were included in the plan.
By 1990, only 1 of the 12 systems had been replaced and the project was $15 billion
over the original budget and was an average of four years late. The one project that was
completed was known as Host, because it called for replacement of the mainframe computers
at the 20 regional control centers. IBM installed its 3083 mainframes on schedule
but was $16 million over budget. Even then, the 3083s were technologically obsolete at the
time they were installed, because the newer IBM 3090-class machines had been available
for a year.
In 1982, the White House Science Council examined the problems being encountered
by the FAA and ordered the agency to
engage a prime contractor to formulate performance goals, design specifications
and systems integration, [including] design, implementation, and
maintenance of hardware and software . . .
The council’s goal was to force the FAA to hire an outside contractor, rather than attempt
to hire its own staff and build the system in-house. The FAA chose not to accept the
advice, allegedly because the agency found it difficult to separate the new system from the
existing processes. Martin Pozesky, assistant administrator for the upgrade program at the
FAA claims that
We would have had to turn over the current air traffic control along with
the modernization plan and then have [the contractor] turn it back to us at
the end.
Instead, the FAA gave a $3.6-billion contract to IBM in 1988 to build the new system.
Other subcontractors were involved both directly with the FAA and indirectly through
IBM. In terms of managing the process, the FAA subcontracted to Martin Marietta for advice
but did not give the subcontractor control over the contractors, such as IBM, that were
working on the new system. When the six-year contract expired, the FAA issued a new $139
million contract with TRW to provide additional advice and day-to-day management.
This lack of oversight and control is somewhat surprising, given the negative
evaluations that were given the FAA for prior contracts. In 1980, the Senate Appropriations
Committee noted that
The FAA has no ongoing, well-defined and systematic management approach
to evaluating software and operational cost, capacity, and performance
of the current system to meet projected short-range workloads.
The General Accounting Office (GAO), the watchdog of Congress, echoed that sentiment
several times later.
Problems
The computer systems to run the air traffic control system were originally written in
1960. Because the computers and the programs are now 35 years old, serious problems exist
in their continued operation and maintenance. The FAA is still operating equipment
38