Legislative Acts

Air Traffic Control

The establishment of the Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center on July 29, 1970 was an important piece on legislation by the Federal Aviation Administration.  In the early days of aviation in the United States, aircraft controllers used immature means to track aircraft and routes.  The inability to communicate with aircraft over radio and tracking aircraft manually on maps and blackboards led to many high-profile accidents in the 1930s.

In the 1960s, the Federal Aviation Administration pressed to modernize the current air traffic control system.  The goal was to automate the manual system to an automated radar traffic control system (ARTS).  The Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center (ATCSCC) integrated the following:

• Central Flow Control Facility 
• Airport Reservation Office
• Air Traffic Service Contingency Command Post
• Central Altitude Reservation Facility

Today, the ATCSCC seeks out issues and provides solutions to mitigate inefficiencies that are identified in the National Air Space System (NAS).  The ATCSCC uses traffic management initiatives to manage air traffic through the using and monitoring:

• Ground Delay Programs
• Ground Stops
• Airspace Flow Programs
• Weather
• Equipment Outages
• Runway Closures
• National Emergencies

Looking to the future of aviation, the ATCSCC is preparing for regulation and control of space operations and operations including unmanned aerial vehicles.  All these desires to operate in new areas will require control of airspace and routes and an all-encompassing system to track and monitor future air traffic.

In conclusion, if not for the creation of the Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center it would be unlikely that the airline industry could operate inside the United States with the current safety record.  The complex network of Air Route Traffic Control Centers, Terminal Radar Approach Control Facilities, and Air Traffic Control Towers rely on the ATCSCC to help manage the nation’s air traffic and make improvements to balance constraints on the NAS .

Word Count: 307

References:

Air Traffic Control Tower Operators, 14 C.F.R. § 65 (2022).

Federal Aviation Administration. (n.d.). A brief history of the FAA. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://www.faa.gov/about/history/brief_history

Federal Aviation Administration. (n.d.). Air Traffic Control System Command Center. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_units/systemops/nas_ops/atcscc