ATC
NATCA: FAA Delaying Runway Safety
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association accused the FAA of dragging its feet on deploying ASDE-X, which provides controllers with an all-weather,

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association accused the FAA of dragging its feet on deploying ASDE-X, which provides controllers with an all-weather, seamless airport surface surveillance system. It uses radar and a process of determining a target location in two or three dimensions called multilateration.

The ASDE-X program was originally scheduled to be completed in 2007, said NATCA, but due to FAA budgetary decisions, only 15 of the scheduled 34 sites will have received ASDE-X by then. In the current fiscal year, which began October 1, only Houston Hobby and Charlotte Douglas International airports will receive it. Three sites will get it in FY 2006 and five others in FY 2007.