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☆ Delta CEO called last week's FAA outage 'unacceptable' and said the agency needs more funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Air traffic was temporarily halted last week after an FAA system, known as Notice to Air Missions, crashed. Over 10,000 flights were delayed, but Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said he doesn't blame the agency. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is pushing to confirm President Joe Biden's pick for FAA Administrator. In a separate interview, American Airlines CEO Rob Isom told CNBC that there needs to be more investment in FAA technology. "With recent events, including airline troubles and last week's tech problem, this agency needs a leader confirmed by the Senate immediately."

☆ U.S. lawmakers call FAA outage 'unacceptable,' demand a fix
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A group of more than 120 U.S. lawmakers told the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) its computer outage on Wednesday that disrupted 11,000 flights was "completely unacceptable" and demanded the agency explain how it will avoid future incidents. On Thursday, the FAA said its preliminary analysis showed the computer outage was caused by a procedural error related to a corrupted data file. The Senate committee email also said it appears the groundstop actually lasted from 7:21 a.m. Buttigieg tweeted at approximately 8:50am that the groundstop had been lifted, was the NOTAM system full operational at that point?" The Senate email asked "what additional resources does FAA need to expeditiously update the NOTAM system?"

☆ FAA Cites Personnel Failure in System Outage That Halted Flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Andrew Tangel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Federal Aviation Administration said its preliminary investigation into a nationwide flight disruption this week found that it was the result of actions by personnel who failed to follow procedures. A breakdown in the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions, or Notam pilot-alert system, led the agency to halt all domestic departures for nearly two hours early Wednesday, snarling thousands of flights and contributing to around 1,300 cancellations. The agency said late Thursday that the Notam system was functioning normally.

☆ Aging, outdated technology leaves air travel at risk of meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

As early as 2012, the FAA decided it wanted to replace aging legacy voice switches used in air traffic control communications with new, internet-based communications technology. Trying to integrate old systems with newer ones — always in real time, because the global aviation industry never sleeps — can also create its own opportunities for catastrophic mistakes. Many more things can go wrong than you might expect — highlighting the sheer complexity of the aviation industry, and underscoring how there isn’t a quick easy fix for IT-related travel disruptions. But it has had lasting effects on FAA technology. That bureaucratic myopia is its own cause of today’s technological malaise in the aviation industry.

☆ Delta CEO urges Washington to increase FAA funding after 'unacceptable' outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian called on Washington to increase funding for the Federal Aviation Administration after an outage of a pilot-alert system that grounded thousands of flights across the U.S. this week. "Over the past 36 hours, the FAA has been conducting a preliminary analysis into the NOTAM system interruption," the FAA said late Thursday. In an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday, Delta's Bastian called the incident "unacceptable." "I don't recall us ever shutting down the national air space due to a similar type of technology outage for several hours." The flight delays and cancellations were the second major air travel disruption in less than a month after bad weather derailed holiday travel late last year.

Federal aviation regulators, lawmakers and air safety advocates have for years warned about outdated technology and other problems with the pilot-alert system that brought U.S. air travel to a halt this week. Technology that supports the Federal Aviation Administration’s Notice to Air Missions, or Notams, alert system is “failing vintage hardware” that needs to be quickly replaced, according to the Transportation Department’s most recent budget request for the FAA. Pilots and industry officials said that the format and distribution system for the notices, which can contain extraneous information, can make them difficult for pilots to digest.

The software that failed and forced the Federal Aviation Administration to ground thousands of flights on Wednesday is 30 years old and not scheduled to be updated for another six years, according to a senior government official. This system was installed in 1993 and runs the Notice to Air Missions system, or NOTAM, which sends pilots vital information they need to fly, the official said. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., was busy Wednesday after an FAA outage canceled and delayed flights. ET “to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information” as it worked to restore the NOTAM system. The FAA lifted the ground stop around 8:50 a.m., and normal air traffic operations began resuming gradually.

☆ FAA has struggled to modernize computer, air traffic operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The FAA has struggled to modernize some long-standing parts of air traffic control. A 2021 Transportation Department Office of Inspection General (OIG) report repeatedly cited challenges in the FAA's multi-billion dollar Next Generation Air Transportation System (Next) infrastructure project. In October, for example, the FAA said it was working to end a long-ridiculed, decades-old practice of air traffic controllers using paper flight strips to keep track of aircraft. ERAM in 2015 replaced the 40-year-old En Route Host computer and backup system used at 20 FAA Air Route Traffic Control Centers nationwide. House Transportation Committee chair Sam Graves, a Republican, labeled as "inexcusable" FAA’s failure to properly maintain and operate the air traffic control system.

☆ Flight Delays Unleash Day of Chaos at U.S. Airports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Jacob Passy | Ben Kesling | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The holiday travel rush is over. Many U.S. travelers on Wednesday morning found their flight troubles weren’t. An outage with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Notice to Air Missions system temporarily grounded all flights in the U.S. As of late afternoon, nearly 1,300 flights to, from, or within the U.S. had been canceled, and nearly 9,000 were delayed, according to FlightAware, a flight-data specialist.

An outage with a federal pilot-alert system cascaded into a nationwide logjam at U.S. airports Wednesday, snarling thousands of flights and temporarily stranding travelers across the country. The breakdown of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Notice to Air Missions system, which provides safety information to pilots, led the agency to issue a nationwide “ground stop” that halted domestic departures for nearly two hours, before flights were permitted to resume shortly after 9 a.m.

☆ FAA is years away from upgrading the system that grounded all US flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Pete Muntean | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The Notices to Air Missions (NOTAM) database failure triggered the FAA to implement the first nationwide stop of air traffic in more than 20 years. “The core operating system for the database has been around since the 1990s,” the source said. “Regardless of the improvements made to the system in recent years, it still has the heart of an 89-year-old man.”CNN has reached out to the FAA for comment on updates to the NOTAM system to date and its modernization timeline. Late Wednesday, the FAA continued to downplay the possibility of a cyberattack as the root cause of the system failure. “The FAA needs more funding,” Kirby said in an on-stage interview before aviation leaders.

"At this time, we do not believe the cause is related to the FAA outage experienced earlier today." Share this -Link copiedNearly half of Southwest flights delayed just weeks after mass cancellations Nearly half of Southwest Airlines flights were delayed as of about 11:15 a.m. Share this -Link copiedMore than 540 Delta flights delayed, 14 canceled More than 540 Delta flights were delayed as of 9:13 a.m. ET, the airline had three flights canceled and 208 flights delayed, amounting to 21% of its overall flights, according to FlightAware. Alaska Airlines had 11 flights canceled and 149 flights delayed, also amounting to 21% of its overall flights, FlightAware noted as of 8:53 a.m.

Passengers stuck at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago greeted the latest air travel disruption with a collective shrug. And our nation’s economy depends on a best-in-class air travel system. "We call on federal policymakers to modernize our vital air travel infrastructure to ensure our systems are able to meet demand safely and efficiently," he said. "An FAA system outage is causing ground stops at AUS and other airports across the country," the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport said in a tweet. Air France said all of its U.S.-bound flights were operating as planned and were not affected by the FAA computer outage.

The U.S. aviation warning system that crashed for more than an hour Wednesday traces back its origins to ocean-faring ships and has been under continuous reforms for years, experts say. At least one aviation industry group has called for it to be replaced altogether. The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights blaming an unspecified failure in the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system. The White House also said it saw no signs that the NOTAM system was taken down as a result of a cyberattack. “Once again, we get to see how antiquated and vulnerable the Notam system is!” he said.

Travelers wait in the terminal after flights were delayed and canceled due to an FAA outage. FAA officials told reporters early Wednesday that the issues developed in the 3 p.m. It has a backup, which officials switched to when problems with the main system emerged, according to the source. They decided to perform the reboot early Wednesday before air traffic began flying on the East Coast in order to minimize disruption to flights. During this process, the FAA told reporters that the system was "beginning to come back online," but said it would take time to resolve.

☆ What is NOTAM, the FAA computer system that halted all US flights?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

It is separate from the air traffic control system that keeps planes a safe distance from each other, but it’s another critical tool for air safety. The FAA also operates the nation’s air traffic control system, with air traffic controllers using radar to track all planes in their air space and radio communications with their cockpits to guide them safely. If no new problems crop up, flights should return to normal soon, though it may take time to get all the delayed flights in the air. Just before noon ET Wednesday, tracking service FlightAware shows about 7,000 delayed flights to, from and within the United States, with nearly 1,100 canceled flights altogether. But if the problem stretches too long, flight crews who are standing by to fly delayed flights will run out of time in their service day.

☆ FAA system outage disrupts thousands of flights across U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The FAA's outage was the second major air travel disruption in less than a month and drew bipartisan criticism. Later Wednesday, Canada's air navigation agency said its similar notification system experienced a brief outage, but said no flights were delayed as a result. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards FAA system failure created mass cancellations across the U.S. on Jan. 11th, 2023. FlightawareWednesday's FAA issue added to concern from Washington from both Republicans and Democrats, particularly about technology that the complex U.S. air system, the world's busiest, relies on. More than a third of Delta's and United's mainline flights were delayed, while about 50% of American's were running late.

☆ Explainer: Why U.S. flights were grounded by a FAA system outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Over 4,000 flights were delayed and more than 600 canceled because of the outage as of early Wednesday morning. The FAA system that is meant to distribute notices to pilots on hazards failed at about 2 a.m. Eastern Time, officials said. [1/3] Passengers wait for the resumption of flights at O'Hare International Airport after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures due to a system outage, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., January 11, 2023. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska 1 2 3The NOTAMs sent by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration are part of a global safety system managed through the United Nations' aviation agency. The incident, and the information overload that pilots complain the system encourages, prompted the effort to change the way the system operates.

FAA officials said a preliminary review traced the outage to a damaged database file, but added there was no evidence of a cyberattack and the investigation was continuing. FAA officials said they were working to "further pinpoint the causes" so the problem can be avoided in the future. One issue airlines are facing is trying to get planes in and out of crowded gates, which is causing further delays. He described confusion as airline employees and many passengers were initially unaware of the FAA's moves and flight delays. The U.S. Travel Association, which represents the travel industry including airlines, called the FAA system failure "catastrophic."

☆ Russia's military needed up to 72 hours to approve a strike — making soldiers hit Ukrainian targets too late: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia's military generally needed up to 72 hours for approval to attack new targets, per The NYT. Despite Russia having more military equipment than Ukraine, Ukrainian forces were more agile. Instead of attacking the new targets, Russia largely bombarded the old locations no longer being used by Ukraine. Per US officials who spoke with The Times, up to "60 percent of Russian cruise missiles missed their intended targets." The slow decision-making of the Russian military effectively shredded their plans to seize the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and several other cities early in the conflict.

☆ U.S. and South Korean warplanes begin largest ever air drills
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Josh Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The United States and South Korea began one of their largest combined military air drills on Monday, with hundreds of warplanes from both sides staging mock attacks 24 hours a day for the better part of a week. In protest of recent drills, North Korea has launched missiles, conducted air drills, and fired artillery into the sea. Vigilant Storm will include variants of the F-35 stealth fighter from both the United States and South Korea, among other aircraft. "(South Korea) and U.S. Air Forces will work together with the joint services to perform major air missions such as close air support, defensive counter air, and emergency air operations 24 hours a day during the training period," the U.S. Air Force said. On Friday South Korean troops finished the 12-day Hoguk 22 field exercises, which featured mock amphibious landings and river crossings, including some drills with U.S. forces.

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