The key air traffic control facility at Orlando International Airport is struggling to keep up with the region’s growth, with the 42-year-old centre poses a safety threat and could exacerbate flight delays if not replaced immediately. It raises concerns. Florida Central House of Representatives and Employee Union.
Though not a visible feature at the airport, the Central Florida Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility known as Tracon helps guide tens of millions of flyers to safe landings and departures each year.
Local Congressional leaders are urging the Federal Aviation Administration to prioritize the proposed $60 million overhaul of a facility built in 1983 and never fully modernized. They said that both the buildings at Orlando International’s airfields and some of their equipment are outdated and that they need to be upgraded to handle hundreds of flights each day in one of the busiest tourist destinations in the country. I say it.
US Congressman Darren Soto said some of the facility’s outdated devices reminded me of the Atari video game system, a popular at the early 1980s. He is calling for action among military helicopters that have killed 67 people amid growing concerns about aviation safety following an air crash in Washington, D.C.
“We believe our air traffic controllers can work with existing equipment, but we need to bring this into the 21st century,” Kissimmee Democrats said. “We can do better.”
Soto and other local elected representatives have been seeking upgrades since 2022. They painted a more dangerous picture to the FAA in a bipartisan letter in 2023, warning that “inferior conditions and equipment pose a direct threat to public safety.”
The design company is working on the initial analysis of the new facility, and authorities will review these findings later this year, according to an email from the FAA sent in response to questions from the Orlando Sentinel. The FAA did not provide a schedule for the new facility.
The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Employment Act included $5 billion to replace air traffic control facilities and complete other upgrades at airports around the country. The FAA has identified 52 air traffic control towers and Tracon facilities, including Orlando, which are candidates for exchange.
The control tower is the most visible component of Central Florida’s air traffic control system, but the controllers working at Tracon also offer flights not only at Orlando International, but also at several Central Florida airports, such as Orlando Sanford International and Melbourne. It plays an important role in monitoring. Orlando International Airport.
Contained in an unexplained building not between terminals A and B at Orlando International, Tracon oversees aircraft arriving and departing within a 30-50-mile radius of these airports, and flights arrive and Central Florida As you leave, you manage your busy airspace. The Tracon operates in a control tower that directs the plane while it guides, takes off and lands at the airport.
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Orlando International’s Air Traffic Control Tower was replaced in the early 2000s, but the Tracon facility was not updated, and the association of professional aviation safety professionals representing air traffic control support staff, engineers and inspectors said Doug Lowe, regional vice president of the company.
The new traycon will allow for more staff and new equipment to handle more crowded skies and minimize delays, Lowe said.
With around 58 million passengers a year, Orlando International is Florida’s busiest airport and the seventh busiest in the US. In 2022, the airport opened a $2.8 billion Terminal C, adding 15 gates to accommodate 20 aircraft.
“We’re not upgrading our ability to bring aircraft at the same time, so there’s a lot of aircraft parking lots with new terminals, but there’s no input and output capabilities to input all of those aircraft. At the same time, Lowe said .
Orlando International ranked as the second Western airport in the US for flights on time, according to 2023 figures from FlightAware’s Aviation Intelligence Tracker. Two factors for poor performance include central Florida weather and reliance on budget airlines with unreliable records.
Lowe hopes the FAA will recognize the urgent need. Space constraints are preventing the addition of the equipment and staff needed to keep up with growth, he said.
“The longer we go without building new traycons, the farther we go from managing the workloads for those people,” Lowe said.
