According to the plans set by the FAA, they will terminate the on-site meteorologists in air traffic control centers and rely solely on automation.
Though the government and its officials claim this is safe, experts had warned that this new trend might increase the risks regarding aviation weather forecasting.
The FAA will replace on-site meteorologists at 21 U.S. Air Route Traffic Control Centers with automated weather software.
This means that a 40-year collaboration between the NWS and the FAA will be brought to an end. The new rules are supposed to take effect on April 20. Aviation experts and meteorologists have complained about this.
Currently, the on-site meteorologists of NWS are providing real-time weather forecasts and updates to air traffic controllers in situ.
The new automated system will use radar, satellite data, and computer models to deliver similar weather information; however, it will not include the meteorologists’ on-the-ground expertise.
The National Weather Service Employees Organization has expressed its reservations that the elimination of human meteorologists would “jeopardize flight safety across the National Air Space.”
In a letter sent to Senator Sherrod Brown, the organization mentioned how an undermanned weather forecasting system may cause delayed responses to changing conditions.
But the FAA said in a statement, “The weather safety of our national airspace remains our shared top priority.” And, with the move, safety won’t be compromised as the agency claims. The agency, for years, had a tradition of on-site meteorologists who have been with it since a 1977 deadly crash in Georgia in which the lack of real-time weather information contributed to the disaster.
And when the weather turns turbulent, it is as yet unanswered whether the automated system alone will prove to be at least as reliable as that of the human expertise of the FAA and NOAA.
