[JYO] Flight service stations of the future

 
Flight service stations of the future
Lockheed briefs AOPA on modernization plans
 (http://www.aopa.org/images/whatsnew/newsitems/2005/050203fss.jpg)   
"After spending 90 minutes getting an advance look at a 21st century flight  
service station and asking hard questions, all I can say is, Wow!" said AOPA  
President Phil Boyer. "On the basis of what Lockheed Martin will deliver under 
 the contract, pilots are going to be much better served and much safer." 
Just two days after the FAA announced that Lockheed Martin had won the  
contract to run the flight service system, company officials were in AOPA's  
headquarters to brief the association on what the flight service station of the 
 
future is going to look like. 
For the first time in history, pilots are going to get a contractual  
guarantee that a live briefer will answer their phone calls within 20 seconds  
and 
acknowledge their radio calls within five seconds. Flight plans will be  filed 
within three minutes. It's in the contract. 
And there will be no user fees. 
"Better service and no fees. That's the bottom line for pilots," said AOPA  
President Phil Boyer. "And as the consumer advocate for general aviation 
pilots,  AOPA fought in the halls of Congress and the FAA to make sure that FSS 
customers  are going to get the service they need." 
During the bidding process, AOPA spoke with all six of the organizations that 
 were in competition for the flight service station contract to make sure 
they  understood the needs of pilots, and that they kept their focus on 
customer  
service. 
The FAA will pay Lockheed $1.9 billion over the course of 10 years, an  
estimated savings of $2.2 billion over what it would have cost for the FAA to  
continue providing the service using its existing infrastructure and  
procedures. 
"This is a sound business decision," said Boyer. "The FSS system is  
antiquated and hemorrhaging money â it costs almost $600 million a year to 
fund  the 
service while the GA avgas taxes that help pay for it total only $60  million. 
And as any pilot who has been stuck on hold for 20 minutes trying to  get a 
weather briefing can tell you, the system is overloaded and frequently  
non-responsive." 
The modernized system promises some exciting changes for pilots. You'll still 
 be able to get a briefing over the telephone, and all of the in-flight radio 
 frequencies will remain the same. But in the future you'll also be able to 
get  an interactive briefing. You'll be able to see the same charts and weather 
maps  on your computer as the briefer sees. 
If you wish, you'll be able to file pilot and aircraft profiles in the  
system, so that the briefer can tailor the information specifically to your  
experience level. 
Lockheed also plans to add e-mail and PDA alerts to the system. If a notam  
comes out or there is a significant change in the weather after your live or  
computer-based briefing, the system will send you an electronic alert.  _More 
on FSS contract award_ 
(http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2005/050203fss.html) ...
Photo: Lockheed Martin briefs AOPA on flight service station of the  future. 
From left: Melissa Rudinger (AOPA), Monte Belger (Lockheed), Daniel  Courain 
(Lockheed), Phil Boyer, Rachel Jackson (Lockheed), Andy Cebula (AOPA),  Andrew 
Mullen (Lockheed). 
(February  3)

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