Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) automated safety enhancements for air traffic controllers at smaller terminal radar approach control facilities (TRACON), focusing on: (1) the extent of and reasons for delays in developing, testing, and deploying the Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS IIA) hardware and software; and (2) whether FAA adequately identified current and future computer capacity requirements for smaller TRACON.
GAO found that FAA did not: (1) properly manage the installation of safety enhancements at smaller TRACON, which caused a 3-year delay in ARTS IIA implementation; (2) require the ARTS IIA production contractor to perform integrated tests to determine whether various portions of the system worked together; (3) have a computer capacity and performance management program for smaller TRACON; and (4) understand current computer utilization or future computer capacity requirements for smaller TRACON. GAO also found that FAA: (1) awarded the production contract before completing system development and continued to change the system requirements after it awarded the contract; (2) had not established a capacity management program because smaller TRACON had not encountered capacity shortfalls; and (3) was uncertain whether ARTS IIA would meet the needs of smaller TRACON.
