Dueling DUATS
Automated weather briefings, flight planning may be endangered
By James Wynbrandt
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This screen shot
of a DUATS session graphically illustrates the utility of this
weather information-retrieval system to pilots. |
DUATS(Direct User Access
Terminal System), the online automated weather briefing and flight
planning and filing service, may be endangered, according to the two
companies that currently provide the free service to pilots under
contract with the FAA. These two vendors (DTC and CSC) are spreading the
word here at EAA AirVenture about the potential shutdown.
"What we’re trying
to accomplish now is to make pilots aware that the government is doing
away with DUATS in the future, for pilots to just be aware and watch the
situation over the next year," said Carey Weigel, a spokesperson
for DTC DUAT Service (North Exhibit Hangar A, 1105-1106).
Changes in the
availability or quality of online briefings and flight planning services
could have a major impact, as pilots have increasingly come to depend on
the automated service. For example, according to FAA data, the number of
DUATS weather briefings now far outstrips those provided by human
briefers through Flight Service Stations.
"Currently it’s
about five to one in favor of DUATS," said Leon Thomas, project
manager for CSC (North Exhibit Hangar C, 3020-3021).
The original DUATS
contract was awarded to DTC and CSC by the FAA in 1989 after an open
bidding process. The companies are paid by the FAA on a per use basis.
This arrangement has led to competition between the two vendors as they
strive to improve their products and service to attract more users to
their respective DUATS portals. (Online flight planning services offered
by EAA’s FlightPlanner [AeroPlanner] AOPA, Jeppesen, and many other
organizations and programs also use DUATS.) Moreover, to win and
maintain the contracts, the companies had to meet stringent FAA
requirements for the quality of the information and planning services
they provide.
"This has resulted
in some giant leaps in the type of products and the quality of the
product that has been given to the pilot over the years," said
Thomas. "And they’re free."
At issue now is the FAA’s
plan to allow Lockheed Martin, which recently took over responsibilities
for providing Flight Service Station briefings, to provide automated
weather briefings. Under the FAA’s current plans, the contracts with
CSC and DTC will eventually not be renewed, and Lockheed Martin will
have no competitor. Moreover, the Lockheed Martin offering currently
does not have to meet any FAA specification or be tested to any
standards as was mandated in the initial contract with DTC and CSC.
According to the FAA,
"It is anticipated that DUAT service will be integrated into LM
FS21 system [the Flight Service Station system Lockheed Martin is
developing]; however, when and how DUAT service will be integrated is
uncertain at this time."
"We don’t think it’s
apples to apples in terms of what they’re likely to provide,"
said Weigel. "We have very detailed specifications that requires
exactly how we have to present information to the pilots; furthermore
they test and verify what we do."
The current vendors also
contend the switch to Lockheed doesn’t make economic sense; CSC and
DTC together are currently paid a total of $8 million per year. For
providing Flight Service Station briefings and the DUATS service,
Lockheed Martin received a 10-year, $2.1 billion contract, or $210
million per year.
"We’re not trying
to knock what Lockheed is doing," said Weigel. "They may
provide a very capable system. But it won’t have the FAA
certification. And even if they do, is the incentive there to grow it
[without competition] significant for them?"
Efforts to reach Lockheed
Martin officials at their booth in Microsoft Flight Simulator Hangar B
(Booth 2128) were unsuccessful.
The current contract for
the DUATS providers expires this September, and they expect to receive a
one-year contract extension. After that, they say their future is
uncertain.
"If pilots are
really interested in continuing the process as it has been, they need to
encourage Congress and to encourage the FAA to put this out as a
competitive bid and let vendors who want to bid this program bid
it," said Thomas. "Whether it’s us that wins it or somebody
else, there needs to be more than one vendor and it needs to be in a
competitive environment and not just a sole source given to
somebody."
