Well, the news this morning is reporting that one or two contractors editing the files of the FAA's ATAM system may be responsible for the system crash which caused nationwide delays and cancellations. I wondered if something like that might have been the cause but, of course, all I, or anyone outside the agency, could do was speculate. I wonder what happened with the Canadian system which also went down at the same time. The systems are supposed to be completely separate. Some other thoughts: First, it is amazing how dependent we are on systems that are showing considerable fragility. Second, I am amazed and yet not surprised that such a crucial system is running on 30 year old programing and equipment. The government hasn't allocated the funds for expensive updates and the airlines don't want to spend the money either. Third, it seems that very few people (or agencies) plan alternatives in case things fall apart.
William Astore has a good article this morning. He asks a good question: with a military budget of over $800billion can't we pay our lower ranking service people enough to meet their basic needs?
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