December 19, 1997, Friday
SYSTEM BLACKOUT DISRUPTS FLIGHTS AROUND COUNTRY
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Source: The New York Times
Section: National Desk
1440 words

Abstract
Brief and supposedly impossible power failure at air traffic control center near Kansas City tears heart out of FAA's national network for several hours, forcing hundreds of planes to be diverted or delayed and affecting tens of thousands of passengers around country; map; latest in series of improbable air-traffic episodes occurs when technician performing routine maintenance on 'fail-safe' redundant power system pulls circuit board on wrong half, taking down system that was on-line; error bypasses emergency generators and batteries, bringing down system that displays radar information and special telephone lines linking Kansas City with controllers in distant cities; power is restored after four minutes, but with surge that damages four radar screens and circuit board in old IBM mainframe; only backup is cannibalized for damaged circuit board, and officials are looking for replacement parts (M)

April 16, 1998, Thursday
Agency to Delay Installation Of Disputed Air Traffic Plan
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Source: The New York Times
Section: National Desk
820 words

Abstract
Federal Aviation Administration agrees to delay phase-in of $1 billion air traffic modernization project until it can reach agreement with controllers who argue that new equipment is less capable than 30-year-old equipment it is meant to replace; project involves installation of new radar screens and related equipment at 20 air traffic control centers across country; FAA wants to replace old equipment because it is prone to breakdown, and many replacement parts are no longer made (M)

May 23, 1998, Saturday
Union Says Air Control System Will Be Unsafe
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Source: The New York Times
Section: National Desk
926 words

Abstract
Airline technicians union says that billion-dollar air traffic control system scheduled to start operating next spring will jeopardize air safety because it lacks alarms and monitoring systems to warn of imminent failure; FAA is also not certain that new software will function properly when calendar rolls over to 2000; officials belatedly agree about alarm problem, but say it is urgent to get new system up because existing technology is falling apart; consultant John J Fearnsides is working with both sides (M)

July 3, 1999, Saturday
Technicians Say F.A.A. Causes Big Delays in Air Traffic
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Source: The New York Times
Section: National Desk
746 words

Abstract
Hundreds of technicians who maintain nation's air traffic control computers picket at 53 airports, handing leaflets to travelers accusing Federal Aviation Administration of causing big delays by mishandling its modernization program, not hiring enough technicians and not consulting with them on new equipment; leaflets list nine incidents this year in which thousands of passengers were delayed because of failure of air traffic computers or related equipment; two of incidents were in New York City; technicians' union, Professional Airways System Specialists, is negotiating for new contract in which pay, staffing levels and training are issues; FAA spokesman says 90 percent of air traffic delays are caused by weather; photo (M)

December 6, 1998, Sunday
METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW YORK; F.A.A. Is Investigating Near Collision by Jets

Source: The New York Times
Section: Metropolitan Desk
284 words

Abstract
FAA is investigating near midair collision of Air Ontario and Northwest Airlines jets south of Albany; says on-board computer system called the traffic collision avoidance system appears to have been at fault (S)

July 19, 2000, Wednesday
Business Travel; The air-traffic system approached gridlock over the weekend, with delays of up to eight hours.
By Joe Sharkey
Source: The New York Times
Section: Business/Financial Desk
925 words

Abstract
Air Traffic system in United States approached gridlock over weekend, with delays of up to eight hours; only travelers who checked Federal Aviation Administration web site knew about severe problems at 40 airports; passengers at airports complain they were given virtually no information by airlines about delays (M)

September 5, 2000, Tuesday
GRIDLOCK IN THE SKIES: A special report.; Crisis for Air Traffic System: More Passengers, More Delays
By By LAURENCE ZUCKERMAN and MATTHEW L. WALD
Source: The New York Times
Section: Business/Financial Desk
3898 words

Abstract
Second consecutive summer of chronic flight delays and cancellations ends with no relief in sight despite expenditures of billions of dollars, and repeated warnings over past decade that air traffic system is approaching gridlock; most experts predict delays, which have risen nearly 50 percent in last five years, will become worse, not better; Federal Aviation Administration, which runs air traffic system, predicts that by 2010 number of airline passengers will rise by 59 percent, to one billion; 70 percent of increase is expected to occur at country's 28 largest airports; current crisis is result of airline deregulation, one of government's most successful economic initiatives, and one of its longest and most expensive blunders, namely, ill-fated attempts to develop new air traffic control system; airlines blame FAA, attributing delays and cancellations to antiquated air traffic control system that cost more than $5 billion in 1999 alone; FAA blames airlines for knowingly scheduling more takeoffs and landings at major airports than system can handle; both criticize Congress for not appropriating enough money to fix system, and localities for preventing building of new runways at congested airports; photo; diagrams; charts (L)

June 11, 2001, Monday
Air Travel's Next Generation
By James Fallows
Source: The New York Times
Section: Editorial Desk
676 words

Abstract
The Federal Aviation Administration has announced a 10-year, $11 billion plan to modernize the air travel system and reduce congestion and delays. The plan is great as far as it goes. It is an amalgam of dozens of incremental improvements.