But during the recession, the nation's aging air traffic system has enjoyed a reprieve in the form of sagging ridership.
The accompanying table lists publicly traded companies that attended an October 2006 FAA "industry day" on the new air traffic system.
Make no mistake: What's in play is the emergence of a caste-based traffic system, one of robot-haves and have-nots, of steely-eyed electronic wheelmen vs.
The traffic system is designed to improve road safety and assist people as they cross the road following three deaths in the past three years.
During the work, a temporary one-way traffic system will be introduced.
As noted here, the FAA proposed in mid-February a new funding scheme that links taxes to the amount planes use the air traffic system.
As detailed here, the FAA wants to create an air traffic system that uses satellites and sensor technology to improve safety and eliminate delay.
The biggest gains are expected to come in marginal weather conditions and at night, when the air traffic system can get bogged down as controllers cautiously build more space between planes.
For example, IBM developed a smart traffic system for Stockholm that resulted in drop in traffic, increased green vehicle and public transportation use, and an improved overall quality of life for the city's residents.
ENGADGET: IBM shows off Smarter Traveler traffic prediction tool
The day kicks off with the splendour of the sovereign's procession from Buckingham Palace to the Lords which delights tourists, but which pitches the capital's traffic system into chaos for the rest of the day.
Under an SMS, any change in the air traffic system that could have a safety impact needs to be rigorously analyzed for hazards, the risks of those hazards thoroughly evaluated and the risks eliminated or mitigated to an acceptable level.
FORBES: FAA's Reckless Threat to Close 149 Air Traffic Control Towers in June
The committee said it recognised the council's achievement in delivering the Twin Sails Bridge scheme, which opened to traffic in December 2011, but said it felt the public had "real safety concerns" about the traffic system, which needed "serious consideration".
For example, the interstate highway system, air traffic control system and even the Internet were the result of DoD projects.
FORBES: As Automatic Budget Cuts Loom, The Pilot Light for Our Future is Flickering
It added the newly-installed bollards, which are 7ft (2.1m) apart, and a traffic light system would enforce traffic regulations and protect the road from further deterioration.
The report calls for accelerating the use of the global positioning satellite system (GPS) in U.S. airspace and ultimately linking GPS and the air traffic control system to provide better and safer separation for planes flying in the United States.
The FAA says funding for the new fee system, combined with federal money, would shift the 40-year-old ground-based air traffic control system to a satellite-based, cockpit-to-cockpit system that is safer and more efficient.
It's airlines versus corporate jets in a Capitol Hill dogfight over the air traffic control system.
Contract controllers are a widely used but little-known part of the FAA's air traffic control system.
Actual flight performance has gotten more unpredictable because of problems in the air-traffic control system.
It is hard to imagine the air traffic control system functioning with its budget cut by 15 percent.
FORBES: GOP's Rx For A Double-Dip Recession: Cut Federal Spending 15%
"Weather is the great equalizer in the air traffic control system, " Church said.
One of the FAA's major projects during the next five years is to revamp the air traffic control system.
How in the world can our air traffic control system survive if air controllers are working ten percent fewer hours?
FORBES: Sequester Scaremongers Caught Red Handed on Air Controller Cuts
Closer to home, airlines have struggled this week with delays caused by a slowdown in the federal air traffic control system.
And Congress is torn over a bill that would help fund a satellite-based air traffic control system to ease aerial bottlenecks.
On the same day, Boeing announced the outline of the future air-traffic management system upon which much of the FAA plan depends.
The FAA predicts that delays will increase 62 percent by the year 2014, given projected passenger growth and the antiquated air-traffic control system.
The second thing that we need to do is we've got to upgrade our air traffic control system, which is a little creaky.
If all continues to go well, the results will be plugged into the airport's air-traffic control system for real within a few months.
And we will restore 150 miles of runways and advance a next generation air-traffic control system that reduces delays for the American people.
应用推荐