(PartiallyPolitics.com) The FAA has been reviewing the incident that caused a number of planes to be grounded on Jan. 11. In their review they found that contract personnel had “unintentionally deleted files” which had caused the issue to the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) database. NOTAM is an important system for the management of more than 11,000 flights. A ground stop of this scale has not occurred since 9/11.
This system is made up of two interdependent systems. The 30-year-old legacy U.S. NOTAM system, which is set to be discontinued by mid-25, and the newer Federal NOTAM System.
The FAA in a recent letter to Congress disclosed that the modernization of the NOTAM system is currently expected to be fully completed by 2030.
The United States Secretary of Transport, Pete Buttigieg, who has been in office for close to two years, has said that his office is generally exploring “aging systems” and how the growing transportation needs affect them. He added that this is why they are currently trying to accelerate the modernization of not only the NOTAM system but also the FAA’s entire system. He added that this modernization is not a change that can happen overnight and there have been multiple administrations who have been involved in these efforts.
Buttigieg’s time in office has been overshadowed by global supply chain issues, issues in major ports, and more recently the widespread flight cancellations and the nationwide strike of railroad workers which was only avoided because Congress intervened.
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