United States | Air-traffic control

Let pilots do it

Satellites are at the heart of plans to improve air-traffic control

Jun 7th 2001|

AROUND this time of year, Americans are usually braced for bad news about air travel. One group or another of pilots or cabin attendants is bound to announce plans for a strike that will leave them sitting for hours at the airport. Bad weather will stop the planes leaving; this accounts for half of the hold-ups. But the overriding problem is sheer congestion. Airlines schedule far more flights for a given time than can possibly be squeezed on to the runways. The real cause is the volume of air traffic, and an air-traffic-control system not good enough to handle it.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Let pilots do it”