Thu, Aug 09, 2007
Wait Times Down To Near-Normal By Midday
With any new software,
comes a few bugs to be ironed out. No one knows this better than
Lockheed Martin, which tells ANN the company's Automated Flight
Service Station (AFSS) system ran a bit slower than usual Thursday
morning.
"The AFSS system is experiencing technical issues resulting in
longer wait times for pilots this morning. A problem associated
with implementing a new software package is causing the delays,"
said the notice on the L-M website. "We hope to have the problem
solved shortly and we apologize for the inconvenience this is
causing."
Keith Mordoff, Director of External and Business Area
Communications for Lockheed Martin IS&GS, said wait times had
returned to normal levels by around midday. Call
times averaged about six-to-seven minutes during the delay,
Mordoff added.
Lockheed has come under fire from a variety of general aviation
organizations -- most notably the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association -- for increasing delays for pilots since the company
took over the FSS network in October 2005. As ANN reported, AOPA took
the complaints of pilots straight to the DOT in June.
For their part, Lockheed says it takes its responsibility to
pilots very seriously... and the company is trying to make the
changeover process as seamless as possible.
As ANN reported, during last
month's AirVenture celebration in Oshkosh, AFSS workers handled
over 8,800 pilot briefings. AFSS program manager Dan Courain also
spoke with ANN Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell at AirVenture, in a
candid interview regarding issues the company still faces, and what
Lockheed is doing to solve them.
That Aero-TV segment is available here.
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